oil finishes

[RAIN MAN]

Hi Folks, Would like to ask about lin seed oil finishes. I thought I read in here that people will use an oil finish only-no sealer. If I am correct, my question is about some pieces I did with just an oil finish. What happened was that I did a show in the summer with oil finished products and theheatfrom the sun brought the oil out on the surface of the piece. It would even rub off on clothes, which was enbarrasing. Has anyone else had this happend or do you use a sealer or poly on top of the oiled piece ? Thanks, Rain Man

[JohnB]

G'day Rain man,
I had a simular thing happen to me. My first and last experiment with oil finishes.

I made some collapsible baskets and finished them with a purchased tung oil combination.

Hot day at the markets, and sure enough they started to come alive
Stains on the table cloth and residue left on your hands when picked up.

I just keep to what I know, acrylic lacquer finishes

[unixpro]

It could be the wood you're using. I've used oil (mostly Danish Oil, not Linseed) on walnut and mahogany without troubles. I imagine the time you allowed between putting it on and displaying it might be a factor too. I believe that you need to let oil set for at least 72 hours before doing anything else to it.

[Mick Walker]

Rain Man, I use BLO to "pop" the grain on wood thinning it with mineral spirits. Let it dry a couple days, use my nose, when the smell is mostly gone. I then will apply 3 or 4 coats of either Formby's tung oil finish or Minwax poly. I use the wipe on.

[BobD]

The trick it to make sure you use a drying oil. Linseed oil straight will dry, but it takes a LONG time. BLO (boiled linseed oil) has chemicals (called metallic dryers) that help it to cure much faster...but it still takes a bit of time.

Pure tung oil, in addition to being very thick, also takes a long time to dry.

Danish oil and tung oil finish are very similar to BLO

Some people use mineral oil, but there is an argument that mineral oil never dries...I haven't used it so I can't comment on that.

Bob

[Bill Wilson]

Linseed and tung oil, in and of themselves, aren't the greatest as stand alone finishes and are most often topped with a film finish of some type. Typically oils are used to enhance the grain in darker woods like cherry and/or as a component of finishes like "Danish oil", "antique oil", "Tung oil", etc. These oil finishes usually have a varnish or polyurethane component to them, added to the oil, to give the finish some sheen and protective qualities.

If you have some BLO, just mix it in roughly equal proportions with your favorite oil based varnish and mineral spirits to make your own "Danish oil" finish. This is a pretty popular, wipe on type finish, used by lots of woodworkers.