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I need to finish two pieces of furniture, a small work table and a bookcase. The table is heart pine, the bookcase is old sinker cypress. The work table will be going in my kitchen,and I want a finish that will allow the character of constant use (i.e. lots of scratches and dents) to add to the piece instead of detract from it. I am thinking that some sort of oil finsh would be best. I have used Formby’s tung oil finish on heart pine in the past, and I like that look, but I don’t want to get stuck in a rut. Any opinions? I have read a bit about danish oil, can anyone give first hand experience? I don’t want anything that will darken too much over time, I like being able to see the grain clearly.
The bookcase will be fairly well protected, and my only criteria for that is that the finish not be too glossy, high gloss is just not really my style.
I don’t have much experience with different finishes, so I would appreciate any comments or hints. Thanks!
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Formby's Tung Oil Finish, and Danish Finish, are too close to be kissing cousins. Maybe a Chemist could tell them apart.
I don't know that I have any incredible suggestions. I would suggest not trying any heavy-duty pioneering on a sinker cypress bookcase, unless that stuff is a lot easier to get where you are than here.
Finish experimentation is why scrap pieces exist. ;-)
Dave
*Why mess with success? If you are already familier with an oil/varnish finish, why deviate? Formby's, Watco, Antique Oil, Minwax Tung Oil Finish are all brand names of "Danish Oil". There is little difference between them. It is an excellent low durability, easy to apply and easy to repair finish. Seems perfect for your projects.Finishing is learned by experiance and most finishers would be better to learn how to use maybe three general types then to continually experiment. If you do experiment, do it on shop furniture or scrap wood.
*Thanks to you both for clearing up the Danish Oil confusion. AS you can tell, I am quite an amateur at finishing- my dad has taught me over the years, but he loves the high gloss polyurethane finishes, and I wanted something different, much to his chagrin.I tried three different oil type finishes on some of the cypress scraps yesterday, I am getting ready to go sand them a bit and apply a touch more to see how I like the look and feel. One of the ones I tried is called "antique oil" low lustre, and I really like that one so far. Thank you both again.
*The MinWax Antique Oil is a good oil/varnish product. It contains a slightly greater amount of varnish than the Watco so gives a somewhat greater protective quality. You could make virtually the same product by mixing 50% poly varnish, 25% boiled linseed oil and 25% mineral spirits.Oil/varnishes do not "build" in the normal sense because the high oil content. However, a nice finish is to apply the second coat and sand it in using #400 W&D sandpaper or 0000 steel wool. Let it set about 15-30 minutes and wipe dry. Let it fully cure for 4-5 days and apply a coat of paste wax using OOOO steel wool and buff.
*I will suggest my favorite finish--satin marine spar varnish (non-poly)diluted 50/50 with mineral spirits. Apply 6-8 coats by wiping on or applying with a foam brush and wiping off the excess. Be sure to continually swirl the mixture. It is a beautiful finish. It is also a more flexible finish than poly and will stand up to hard wear and water repellency.
*Thanks, Gretchen, for the suggestion. Is this something that I can get at Lowe's/ Home Depot, or do I need to order it from somewhere? When you say to apply 6-8 coats, does it need to fully dry between each coat? If so, how long to dry between each coat? Thanks.
*Home Depot is now carrying McCloskey's marine varnish I think and I think Lowe's carries some also. You do have to search for the non-poly though. Otherwise go to a real store!! Because the varnish is diluted it will dry quickly--I can usually apply 2 coats in a day. It needs to be dry but not bone dry. Don't be worried about how the first coats look--they soak in and don't really look particularly good. It builds to a beautiful finish. After it has cured for 2-4 weeks give it a good paste waxing and you and your pieces will glow. You need to swirl the mixture to keep the flattening agents in the satin varnish from separating.
*What Gretchen describes is a "wiping varnish" and it is an excellent way to build a varnish finish minimizing dust contamination. Most finishers make their own as a 50/50 mixture of varnish or poly varnish and either mineral spirits or naphtha. I use the naphtha as is dries more quickly and I do not wipe the liquid after application. There is some good info on this technique here: http://members.home.net/jdkx2/links.htm. Read the article "Hand Applied Finishes".You can also buy "wiping varnishes". Minwax Wiping Varnish, McCloskey's Tung Oil Varnish and Formby's Tung Oil Finish are all wiping varnishes.While it takes more coats, a wiping varnish finish is easy to do and produces a more durable finish than an oil/varnish finish.
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