Need some Danish Oil advice, plus a question on filler
basic questions:
danish oil upkeep?
best, most unobtrusive filler/crack protectant?
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I have a beautiful old farm table that belonged to my father. It’s lovely: the table top is long (7ft!) and thin (1.25″) and straight, and the style is very informal and unfussy. I have no idea what the wood is, but it’s all some lovely hardwood–no veneers, etc. The finish was very banged up: lots of nicks and at some point my dad overwatered a plant and it sat in a puddle for days, leaving a weird green stain.
I’ve been trying to gather enough money to have it refinished, or enough courage to refinish it myself, and I finally settled on doing a Danish oil finish.
I sanded the table top down to the bare wood and so far I’ve applied 3 coats of Danish Oil: 1st applied with 220 sandpaper, 2nd applied with 400 sandpaper, 3rd applied with 400 sandpaper. I’m going to do 2 more coats, one with 600 sandpaper and one with 800.
It’s going beautifully. The oil is wiping off, and it stays tacky a bit longer with each successive layer, but so far the stickiness disappears well within 24 hrs.
The specifics of my questions:
1) The table has two old cracks between the boards (each crack is between a different pair of boards, 1 crack at each end of the table). They are visible, but I don’t mind the way they look: again, its just a lovely, rustic farmhouse table. I am concerned that the depth of cracks poses a problem, however: when water gets in it will be impossible to get it out, and then I have to worry about the cracks widening or the wood discoloring. Using filler is a possibility, I guess, but it can look very unnatural. If it’s a choice between filler that looks like weird shoe-polish, or the cracks, I’d rather have the cracks. But is there some way to protect the wood in the crevaces? I’d like to avoid using a coat of poly on the entire table top, but would painting a bit of poly inside the cracks protect the wood?
2) I plan to follow my 5 coats of danish oil with some wax. I’ve read in multiple places that it’s smart to re-oil yearly. Most people recommend cleaning off the old wax with mineral spirits…but then I’ll see other sites that recommend using mineral spirits to clean off old Danish Oil finishes! I want to remove the wax before I re-oil, but not if it’s going to remove my 5 original layers of Danish oil!
Any advice?
thanks in advance…
Replies
Stop with so many coats of Danish oil. It is not supposed to build a film on the surface or become glossy. Why? Because even when fully cured it remains fairly soft. After it has cured (say a month) mineral spirits will not remove the Danish oil. It will remove any wax. If you want a more glossy finish, you can build a more durable film with a wipe on varnish. Waterlox, which also comes in a Satin is a good choice. The Original/Sealer comes thin enough to use as a wiping varnish directly from the can. The Satin needs some thinning to use as a wipe-on varnish.
The issue with the cracks is not so much what to fill them with, but what caused them in the first place. I suspect the top has been attached to the frame in a way that doe not allow it to freely expand and contract in it's width as humidity changes.
You shouldn't need to reapply Danish oil every year, But when you do you should thoroughly clean the top. One part of that is to use mineral spirits to remove wax and oil soluble dirt. You should also use water--a few drops of Dawn in water taking care to just get the surface damp, not really wet.
Stop with so many coats of Danish oil. It is not supposed to build a film on the surface or become glossy. Why? Because even when fully cured it remains fairly soft. After it has cured (say a month) mineral spirits will not remove the Danish oil. It will remove any wax. If you want a more glossy finish, you can build a more durable film with a wipe on varnish. Waterlox, which also comes in a Satin is a good choice. The Original/Sealer comes thin enough to use as a wiping varnish directly from the can. The Satin needs some thinning to use as a wipe-on varnish.
The issue with the cracks is not so much what to fill them with, but what caused them in the first place. I suspect the top has been attached to the frame in a way that doe not allow it to freely expand and contract in it's width as humidity changes.
You shouldn't need to reapply Danish oil every year, But when you do you should thoroughly clean the top. One part of that is to use mineral spirits to remove wax and oil soluble dirt. You should also use water--a few drops of Dawn in water taking care to just get the surface damp, not really wet.
Stop with so many coats of Danish oil. It is not supposed to build a film on the surface or become glossy. Why? Because even when fully cured it remains fairly soft. After it has cured (say a month) mineral spirits will not remove the Danish oil. It will remove any wax. If you want a more glossy finish, you can build a more durable film with a wipe on varnish. Waterlox, which also comes in a Satin is a good choice. The Original/Sealer comes thin enough to use as a wiping varnish directly from the can. The Satin needs some thinning to use as a wipe-on varnish.
The issue with the cracks is not so much what to fill them with, but what caused them in the first place. I suspect the top has been attached to the frame in a way that doe not allow it to freely expand and contract in it's width as humidity changes.
You shouldn't need to reapply Danish oil every year, But when you do you should thoroughly clean the top. One part of that is to use mineral spirits to remove wax and oil soluble dirt. You should also use water--a few drops of Dawn in water taking care to just get the surface damp, not really wet.
I agree with the previous advice (though I might not have posted it three times lol) I think the most important thing to do for you is to figure out how this damage came to be in the first place. Perhaps there is something about the current conditions that leads to these constant issues.
This is an interesting post for me too because I was wondering about filling cracks with clear epoxy for an old redwood slab table. Is there any way to fill narrow cracks so it doesnt look plastic? And can you use the epoxy on bark around the outside of the table and then rub it in with a stiff bristle brush so you don't get too much build up but still protect the bark?
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