Replies

1. 
   Elcoholic | Apr 04, 2002 10:28pm | #1

   wax.

   John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking

   Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne

2. 
   WilliamHF | Apr 05, 2002 01:52am | #2

   If you aren't in too big a hurry and I can understand if you are, especially if this is your first workbench----------

   Buy 1/2 or one full gallon of RAW linseed oil. Absolutely NOT boiled linseed oil.

   Figure out how to aerate it with an aquarium bubbler or some equivalent method which will pass ambient air through the oil. Have the oil in a glass container setting outside in the sunshine. Provide some sort of protection to keep bugs and dust out of it----------the best you can.

   Aerate the oil for at least a week; two weeks is better.

   When this has been accomplished, heat the RAW oil  at around 350 F for two hours. It'll display fine bubbles, really fine, not a roiling boil.

   What has happened is that you have hastened polymerization of the oil. If thick coats of RAW linseed oil are applied to wood, it can require years for the oil to stop changing.

   Now apply the product you have manufactures in THIN coats. You will discover that a coat of RAW linseed oil, so treated, will dry in 24 hours. Apply 3 or 4 coats.

   Linseed oil will darken the color of the virgin wood and most people like the hue produced.

   You can, of course, use Boiled Linseed oil. That product contains chemical driers.

   The aerated, heated product which begins with RAW linseed oil winds up as a non-toxic product which you can handle with impunity. I don't deny that the very rare individual may suffer skin sensitivity reactions to even this product.

   Joe Robson, of Tried and True Varnishes, provides a product superior to what I have described herein, but it's a bit more expensive. Of course, give him credit, he does all the work!

   Best wishes for a good outcome,

   William

   A

   I make something, sometimes twice, each year.
3. 
   BKCBUILDER | Apr 05, 2002 01:53am | #3

   tung oil....repeat when it starts to look unpleasant.

   you didn't figure you were gonna get one answer...right?

4. 
   LD | Apr 05, 2002 12:56pm | #4

   Thanks for the replies.  I don't think I want the hassle of making my own boiled lindseed oil, so I opted to combine the other two.  Two coats of tung oil followed by wax.

1. 
   Azeddie | Apr 05, 2002 04:11pm | #5

   I made my bench out of maple and I recommend Tung oil also PURE Tung oil , I think i did 2 coats, did this 10 yrs ago, maybe someday I will apply wax....LOL

2. 
   HowardAcheson | Apr 05, 2002 06:22pm | #6

   Be aware Dave, that real tung oil will say "pure" or "100%" on the label. "Tung Oil Finishes" such as the Minwax product are really just oil/varnish mixtures similar to Watco or, Formby's which is a thinned wipe-on varnsish. Neither contain much or no real tung oil at all. In addition, real tung oil takes almost forever to cure and I don't like the smell, but that's a personal issue.

   That said, I think an oil/varnish finish is a better finish for a bench than ####pure oil. A pure oil provides virtually no moisture, water or chemical protection at all. Nor will it make stains easier to clean or glue easier to remove. Finishing with an oil/varnish gives you some protection and putting a final coat of paste wax will keep glue from adhering. It is an easily replaced/repaired finish also. Just wipe down with mineral spirits using 000 steel wool every so often to remove the old, dirty wax. Apply a new coat of oil/varnish if necessary or just add a new coat of paste wax. You can make your own oil/varnish by mixing equal parts of varnish, boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits rather than buy Watco.

5. 
   sschefer | Apr 05, 2002 06:41pm | #7

   Dave, it has been my experience that you would want a finish that is durable yet easily repaired and replaced. One must remember that a bench in this case is a place where work is done. You don't need to be concerning yourself with damaging the finish, you need to be getting your work done. For that reason, I would recommend that you save yourself the hassels of trying to put a beautiful finish on it. Instead, just use Boiled Linseed Oil. I would be a little leary of waxing it because you may transfer the wax to the unfinished wood you're working on. In my opinion, a well worn bench is a thing of beauty in itself.

   Steve - in Northern California