# Adding BLO to Arm-R-Seal to warm up the wood (after 1st coat?)



## Sirgreggins (Apr 12, 2012)

I just finished building my version of the woodwhisperer weekend wall shelf out of cherry and i'm really happy with the results. I applied 2 coats of Charles Neill's blotch control as directed and then 1 coat of Arm-R -Seal after the pre conditioner dried. However, i'm not happy with the color after applying the 1st coat of Arm-R-Seal. It just didnt warm up the wood or bring out the grain as much as i'd like. Can I simply add some BLO to the next few coats or do i have to sand back to bare wood in order for the oil to soak in the way i want? Thanks


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Yep, the BLO won't soak into the wood after finish has been applied


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## Sirgreggins (Apr 12, 2012)

Well, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and sand it again. What grit should I start with? Also once I get back to bare wood, I'll pre condition it again. Should I put BLO into the varnish for the 1st coat or go straight oil let it dry, then just varnish? Just curious what you guys think.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

The Blo will not do anything, the cherry will age on its own, and be fine, just give it a little time.
What happened is the pre-stain sealed the wood to some degree and the reaction oil has on cherry was hindered, but so was the blotching.As noted it will all warm up on its own as it ages a little.


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## Sirgreggins (Apr 12, 2012)

Thanks Charles. I thought the pre conditioner would still absorb, just not as much and not blotch. Now that i know this, any suggestions for accelerating the darkening process to give it look that oiled look?


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## RockyTopScott (Nov 16, 2008)

Set it out in the sun


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Charles is right, as usual.

To me, the biggest difficulty in finishing cherry is the fact that what you see is not what you get. You can't waste your time trying achieve a certain look, because whatever it looks like now will change over time.


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## Sirgreggins (Apr 12, 2012)

I see. i guess the blotch control is more for stain and dye rather than oil, since thats whats picking up the color. I'll put by the window and rotate it so i get it nice and even. Thanks guys!


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

yep just let it get some sun , and it will be fine , I use a dye mix of 1 part General finishes cinnamon dye , and 1 part light brown dye and 1 part water , after the blotch control to "kick" the color, it gives it a nice natural cherry look but also allows the cherry to darken as it ages as well. You can adjust the brown or cinnamon for more brown or more red , works well . I matched this color to a 2 year old natural cherry table I did that had aged naturally .

One caution, go easy on that sun, those wide shelves can cup , rotate frequently , nice piece by the way , I like it

One last thing, try this for cherry and oil, wipe the surface with a damn cloth then immediately apply the oil , what happens is the water will prevent the oil from soaking into the soft grain and blotching as bad, sounds nuts I know to put oil over water , but we have tested it and done it many times and no issue, the water evaporates much faster then the oil and it just lays down , the oil then seals the soft grain and blotching is reduced alot, not 100% , but as the cherry ages it all comes to a uniform color and the blotching goes away.


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## Sirgreggins (Apr 12, 2012)

Thanks again. Charles, you truly are a finishing guru. Much appreciated.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

oops in the last post I wrote "damn cloth" should read damp , sorry about that


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## Sirgreggins (Apr 12, 2012)

hahaha, i think either applies when it comes to finishing


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## Sirgreggins (Apr 12, 2012)

One last question and I promise i'm done. A friend of mine told me to put a few coats of dewaxed amber shellac down to give it some color and then a few more of the arm-r-seal. I told him i'd ask you guys to confirm. Is this true?


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

I use Charles Niel too, but mostly on softwoods. I've been using Zinners sanding sealer dewaxed shellac. It will darken just a bit, but it will also allow the ArmRSeal to darken it. So next time you might want to try that. I like charles's pre conditioner, but on some hardwoods it seals too good. That's why you always have some extra boards to experiment on. My personal opinion, as long as General Finishes is around, throw that BLO away.


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## shampeon (Jun 3, 2012)

Yes, the amber shellac will pop some of the figure and warm it up. The Zinnser Seal Coat is more of a light blonde shellac, so it won't impart as much color. If you have a piece of scrap, treat it like you've done the rest of the piece and then try some shellac.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

yes a coat of shellac will also warm the wood, again its a reaction to the solvents', but do light coats, or better , spray it, it too can blotch the cherry if applied too heavily and it migrates into the soft grain.

On oil base stains and gel stains we often find doing only one coat of our blotch control often works quite well


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## Sirgreggins (Apr 12, 2012)

I've made the decision to sand it back, do 1 coat of the blotch control and start with a single coat of 1lb cut dewaxed amber shellac. Then move on to my top coats. Rookie mistake not taking the time to do a test piece. Now i have to spend more time taking the finish off and restarting. Live and learn though. One nice thing is that I've got my varnish wiping technique down thanks to Marc Spagnolo's DVD. To remove the finish and get back to bare wood, what grit should i start with?


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

Let whats on it cure and dry it'll be easier to remove and you'll remove less wood that way. I think youll like the shellac method, just give it about 4 hours to dry. You'll think it's dry in a couple minutes but top coat can sneak by it if you don't wait for the cells to seal up down inside the pours.


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