OK, I’m a newbie and need help. I have built a blanklet chest out of hard maple and used a Danish oil on the piece (Watco med walnut). I applied it with a foam brush, and it has big splotches in it! I finished a bookcase a couple of years ago on the same type of wood with the same finish and no splotches.
I know you’ll tell me I should have conditioned or sealed the wood first, but I want to get some color to the wood EVENLY. What are your best suggestions for finishing the piece? I also want to put a clearcoat over whatever stain/oil that is used.
What do any one out these think of Waterlox?
Thanks for the help.
Replies
The Watco with stain (asphaltum I believe) has penetrated pretty deeply. At this stage you are in a difficult spot I believe, since it would be a pretty large task to remove the original stain. You can obscure the blotchiness with a pigmented gel stain. This will obscure the grain of the maple but you have to decide whether you like the particular look. It would be best to decide about the gel stain on some scrap of the same wood, after you replicate the Watco.
Waterlox is a decent oil based varnish, based on phenolic resin modified with tung oil. The Original/Sealer wipes on well with a cloth, and dries to a soft gloss. It will make an attractive clear coat over gel stain. Just be sure the gel stain is well cured, and go gentle with the first coat of the Waterlox.
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