Danish Oil Help please

[azbison]

Everyone, I'm using danish oil and mineral spirits in a 50/50 combination. It gives me the danish oil finish, but dries faster. I put a quart of danish oil in a fresh and clean gallon paint can and put the same amount of mineral spirits in it. I've been cutting 3d puzzles and soak the pieces in the mix for about 30 min and let them dry anywhere from 4 hours to a couple of days and repeat. The pieces are coming out fine, but my danish oil is starting to gel. I'm getting gelatinized oil "mucus" on the bottom of my can. I added some more mineral spirits and that didn't help, I filtered my oil through a terry cloth and removed all the gel, but it comes back.

Any ideas?

[lucky788scroller]

I really dont know, unless theres some moisture from the wood causing that. Thats different than the method I use.I never thin my danish oil, I always use it straight up.I will dip and soak, and always seal it from air when not in use.The humidity in the air could cause that too I would imagine, or It may be a reaction with your mineral spirits too.

[Fremmed]

Jim,
I think its the Mineral spirits. I cut mineral spirits into danish oil and had it in a sealed mason jar. Came out after a few hot days to find it looking just like you described. I've decided to only cut in as much as I plan to use from now on.

[sawdustus]

It's the danish oil, which is really a form of varnish. The gel you are getting is the hardening of the oil finish when exposed to oxygen in the gallon can with only 1/2 gallon of liquid in it. Either remove the air, or fill the can and it should last longer. I usually make up only what I needed for the day's finishing and then store what's left in a smaller container until the next time you need it. I find that putting any finish back into the original container just contaminates the lot. I use a small plastic margarine container or a glass jar to store used finish for a few days. If it starts to harden (gel) I let it finish and then toss it out.

sawdustus

[Ramjet]

Hi . I was told by some one years ago about a trick to stop paint from forming a skim on the surface . When you are about to close the lid exhale into the jar or can . Your exhaled breath contains Carbon Dioxide and replaces the Oxegen in the container . Seems to work for me . Cheers.
Roger

[Bill Wilson]

Try pouring a small amount of your oil in a shallow pan. You only need enough to cover the piece and then you can keep it separate from your fresh oil. I use small plastic food containers. I can seal them with the lid if I want to use them for a few days. They're easy to clean and are reuseable. For larger pieces, I've used those foil baking pans. You can cover them with plastic wrap, then throw them away when your done. The most important thing is not to mix the used material with fresh.