Is there a less-yellowing oil based varnish that can mix with tongue oil and mineral spirits to make an oil/varnish blend that brings out the most contrast between earlywood and latewood? My current 1/3 mineral spirits-1/3 BLO-1/3 varnish, yellows earlywood and doesn’t darken latewood.
General Finishes water based top coat, Waterlox, and shellac all also reduce contrast. Only Zinsser Seal Coat, clear paste wax, and Watco’s Danish and Teak oils darken latewood without too much yellowing of earlywood. I don’t want to use paint or film forming varnishes. I want to start with and oil/varnish blend and find out how often it needs re-wiping maintenance coats to refresh finish.
Current project is Radiata pine casing on doors and windows in a heated shop that will not be air conditioned in humid Ohio summers with windows open. Some casing will be on garage side of partition wall that separates shop from parking area. That casing will not be exposed to rain or sunlight, but temperatures in unheated parking area are below freezing in winter and hot humid in summer. I like how Watco Teak Oil looks and it’s said to have anti-fungals and able to be used outdoors. So if there is no better home brew option, I will use Watco’s teak oil on all casing inside of shop and on garage wall side.
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I'm a bit confused by your question asking about a lighter mix and then end with using Watco Teak oil. Teak oil (Watco) will leave an amber color much like BLO.
In your 1/3,1/3,1/3 mix, substitute pure tung oil for BLO. That will be about the lightest colored mix of the kind that I know. Except, Watco "natural" doesn't have much color but I have not made a direct comparison. Be careful when buying tung oil. Not all tung oil on the market is really tung oil or only has a little in it. I think this one is OK:
https://www.woodcraft.com/products/woodriver-tung-oil-natural
Thanks for link to Woodcraft tung oil. I was asking if there is a home brew mixture that gives the same (or better) contrast between the early wood and latewood of pine, than I already get with Watco teak oil. I read a lot about mixing your own is better than Watco, but wasn't sure about which oils and varnish to use. Sounds like you're saying tung oil is better than BLO. Now I'll try to find the least yellowing oil based varnish.
I didn't mean to say tung oil is better than BLO. It is lighter in color. That's all.
Understood. Better for my use because I wanted a lighter tone on the earlywood.
Was surprised how Watco’s oil varnish blends darken the latewood way more than the others, which makes more contrast. Seems experimenting is best way to learn.