Replies

1. 
   jac747 | Dec 21, 2024 11:42am | #1

   I just used Odies for the first time on a cherry morris chair. Instructions indicate you can put it on with whatever you want. I first tried a piece of wiping cloth; it worked but not very well. Odies is thick, so something with a little stiffness works better. They of course recommend a none-woven pad:

   https://odiesoil.com/applicators/

   I found something similar at a paint store that worked well enough. It takes some elbow grease to apply; keep adding finish until the wood has absorbed all it can. I used an old tooth brush to work the finish into corners, a bit tough to do with the pad. Let it sit for 40 minutes to an hour, then buff it well with a terry cloth until anything extra is removed.

   So far I like the result, a nice low-sheen finish with a smooth, pleasant surface feel, not unlike a sanded-oil finish if you've ever done that. I'm planning to add a second coat after the first cures fully.

   I'll be curious to hear your impression. Good luck,

   -Joe

2. 
   CharlieFurnituremaker | Dec 23, 2024 10:58am | #2

   Looks like a long-oil varnish much like Danish oil. Follow the instructions on the can to the letter and try your entire, untruncated finishing routine on a large piece of scrap first - drying/curing times and all. The whole schmear.

1. 
   davidweaver | Jan 05, 2025 04:29pm | #6

   it's tung oil and wax with no driers. I would imagine they're mum about the tung oil so I don't know how it's modified. You can buy a gallon of raw tung from jedwards - well, you'd have to have a big enough order - mix it with beeswax and carnauba in a pot - one or the other or both - and kind of figure out what you want to the tune of about $15 a quart.

   Danish oil - outside of T&T - typically varnish and oil mixed. I've made a huge amount of varnish at this point, 20 batches of it, a quart each, which thinned is more like 3/8ths of a gallon - I guess it doesn't sound huge - it's a lot. Tung oil is really good, so I couldn't comment on which is better but raw tung with wax does make a dreamy feeling (and not very durable thus cannot be anywhere above the wood fibers as their instructions I'm sure would confirm) sort of manbun and cool shoes guy kind of finish.

   You can add japan drier to it if you want every glom that goes in to dry fully in a day.

   Of course, if you like danish oil - nothing wrong with that. Fairly sure Minwax antique oil is actually a straight up long oil varnish, but it's less flattering to call it that compared to antique oil.

3. 
   rclark5 | Dec 23, 2024 04:43pm | #3

   I just used Odie's for the first time (on Walnut) and loved the way it looked. I'm a big fan and will use it again. I actually used shellac underneath it (there are some threads on this site regarding NOT doing this) and it worked great. I was worried that it would not leave a great finish.

   Cypress is considerably softer, so more than one coat may be necessary (I won't recommend shellac under it, and I doubt Odie's would either...). 1+ on the use of the non-woven pad. Odies recommends using theirs or another (such as a super fine Scotch pad) finer than the final grit that you finished to. They stated to use terry cloth to buff with. I used an old tee shirt (was worried about it shedding lint, but it worked great). I suspect any lint free rag would work. It is thick and sticky, so the wrong cloth could potentially make a mess...

4. 
   Bentusi | Dec 23, 2024 06:18pm | #4

   If it's anything like Rubio, then yes, it will absorb a lot of it...in some places.
   I have not used Odies myself, but I see it is often directly compared with Rubio, and they are both classified as hard wax oils.

   I have not been happy with Rubio on soft woods like Maple and Pine.
   It's been amazing on hardwoods and is easily my fav finish.
   I'm sure I'm doing something wrong the few times I've used it on softwoods like pine and softer maples. It seems that the higher the hardness, the better it works. Perhaps it's the tightness of the pores.
   It ends up blotchy, looking like it would with stain. It also has a very severe yellowing effect on lighter-colored wood. It looks like it was soaked in pee. I don't like it.
   I don't think you'd want to do the same process with hardwood as you normally would, and I can't offer any advice to help other than definitely doing testing and experimenting first.
   Just my minimal experience to add here. Also...a reminder..NOT Odies I'm talking about.

1. 
   davidweaver | Jan 05, 2025 04:32pm | #7

   It's not like rubio - rubio is a mix of oils with a disocyanate hardener. Odies is tung oil with wax, and though some of it talks about being solvent free, I saw that they use limonene (more powerful solvent than turpentine - also aromatic and could make you light headed) and maybe don't give as much warning about that as they should. Limonene is a food product in some cases, but so is Lye if you catch my drift.

   both are just oils, so if they go on softwoods, there will be a lot of penetration. The only way to deal with that, I guess would be to apply very light coats or do something to size the wood, which is a real bear if softwoods have really soft spots.

   you are right - odies - tung oil and wax - will soak in and do the same thing.

5. 
   jac747 | Jan 05, 2025 11:47am | #5

   Just finished putting Odie's on a cherry Morris chair. It's definitely a low-gloss matte finish, and I'm looking for a bit more sheen. Searching and reading yields adding Odie's Wax as a top coat and buffing. Anyone have anything to say about that or other tips for getting more sheen out of this finish?

   Thanks

1. 
   davidweaver | Jan 05, 2025 04:33pm | #8

   top it with carnauba. if you want more than that out of it, rub shellac in it and then steel wool and carnauba. or something with a little less sheen if carnauba has too much.