Bunnyblaster Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 I'm working on my sons baby bed, and I've started finishing it. I'm applying layers of Watco Danish oil, and it looks awesome when the oil is wet, and pretty dull when it dries. I'm at 3 coats now and I've wet sanded with 400 and 800 on the last two coats. How do I get that "wet" look, or more a semi-gloss "wet" look? Should I let it dry and top coat it with a poly or varnish? Any thoughts? This is my first furniture project. The purpose of the finish is to make it look like a gunstock (the bed is designed around several John Browning gun designs). Heres a shot of the bed when I mocked it up to make sure everything fit before finishing. Its missing the metal bars that will form the slats (they're being finished by a gunsmith). thanks for the help Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jab73180 Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 great idea for a bed aaron. i recently made an urn for my brother out of walnut. i did 1 coat of boiled linseed oil (BLO) and 3 coats of poly. it is plenty shiny. hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 I'm not familiar with Watco, but I did Gretchin's Cradle using Sutherland Wells polymerized tung oil. It has two coats that were rather liberal and then one less so. The final coat was applied like you would wax. It has a semi-gloss appearance. You can see it in the Critique Room - Gretchin's Cradle. The legs are Walnut, so you can see if it's the sheen you are trying to get. It sounds like the wood is still absorbing. I'm assuming that you want a very close to the surface gun stock look finish. I'm guessing you'll just keep applying more coats. You could switch to an oil based poly or varnish. Or let it dry and coat with Shellac and then a water based poly. I'm not a fan of poly, unless it's absolutely necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcornHouse Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 I'm working on my sons baby bed, and I've started finishing it. I'm applying layers of Watco Danish oil, and it looks awesome when the oil is wet, and pretty dull when it dries. I'm at 3 coats now and I've wet sanded with 400 and 800 on the last two coats. How do I get that "wet" look, or more a semi-gloss "wet" look? Should I let it dry and top coat it with a poly or varnish? Any thoughts? This is my first furniture project. The purpose of the finish is to make it look like a gunstock (the bed is designed around several John Browning gun designs). Heres a shot of the bed when I mocked it up to make sure everything fit before finishing. Its missing the metal bars that will form the slats (they're being finished by a gunsmith). thanks for the help Aaron Either a wipe-on poly or an oil/varnish will do the job. Even though Danish oil is technically an oil varnish itself, it is more diluted. Something like Minwax's Antique Oil, or Gen'l Finishes Arm-r-seal (Marc's face, I believe) or something similar has a stronger concentration of varnish, and will leave a surface finish in satin, or gloss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunnyblaster Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks for the help! I'll get some of the General Finish stuff and try some test pieces. Thanks again! Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcornHouse Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Either a wipe-on poly or an oil/varnish will do the job. Even though Danish oil is technically an oil varnish itself, it is more diluted. Something like Minwax's Antique Oil, or Gen'l Finishes Arm-r-seal (Marc's face, I believe) or something similar has a stronger concentration of varnish, and will leave a surface finish in satin, or gloss. Stupid auto correct. I meant Marc's faVe, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bois Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Watco Danish oil does a fantastic job of bringing out the natural beauty of walnut, but is not meant to be a heavy film finish. After 2-3 applications, even walnut will stop absorbing subsequent applications and you end up wiping of almost all that you wiped on. My absolute favorite top coat for walnut is a hand rubbed shellac finish since you can fine tune the sheen you want (I typically shoot for a nice satin). While some of the poly products are getting closer to a hand rubbed finish, I find they all still fall a bit short. Here is an example of a pumice stone rubbed shellac finish over walnut. And here is an example of just danish oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osgw380 Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Awesome awesome awesome!! My wife wants a baby bed just like this after seeing yours and we don't even have kids! Love the buck mark and gun stocks. I'm assuming metal rails at gunsmith means your blueing them? You will have to post more pics when its complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunnyblaster Posted March 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Yeah, I was going to have the gunsmith blue them....only more of a black. I wanted a deep dark blue like you see on the great Browning shotguns. He did an old Ithaca 37 (Another John Browning design) for me a couple years ago, and it was beautiful. Before I took it to him, I thought I'd just cold blue it. It would look fine right? Yeah, no. He fixed it up awesome though. He's not quick. Gunsmiths are few and far between anymore, so he's as busy as he wants to be. He's had the steel stock for a couple months now, but I figure I'll wait till I'm done finishing before calling him about it. I'm going to look into the shellac and test some stuff out. That table looks great. Aaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arco21 Posted April 27, 2011 Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 I'm sure you've already got the finish on this crib (it looks great by the way) but when I first read this, I thought why not finish it like an actual gun stock, i.e. Tru Oil? I might build something like your crib and try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnell Hagen Posted May 7, 2011 Report Share Posted May 7, 2011 Watco will build into a glossy film finish, but it takes several coats, a dozen or more. Apply it with a rag, each coat should be very thin. Imagine the sheen left on your dining table after you wipe it with a damp cloth, this is the thickness you're shooting for. You don't want excess, no runs or drips, nothing to wipe off. The build can be hastened with the addition of extra varnish, but experiment first. Were I you I would choose one of the Walnut colours, the brown dosen't kill the chatoyance but it does prevent the bleached look walnut gets over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suiciedchild Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 being that this is for a bed for a small baby? Maybe you should consider something that is "food safe" or non toxic if ingested, it sounds kinda silly but when my son started teething he would bite onto the front rail ( where you have the joined gunstocks ) not sure how dangerous any of those finishes are especially to a child/ baby. looks awesome though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jab73180 Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 so how is the bed coming? i have been researching john browning lately having picked up a 1911 pistol recently. he really is a genious. so back to the bed, it is a great design and cant wait to see pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayashiox Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 being that this is for a bed for a small baby? Maybe you should consider something that is "food safe" or non toxic if ingested, it sounds kinda silly but when my son started teething he would bite onto the front rail ( where you have the joined gunstocks ) not sure how dangerous any of those finishes are especially to a child/ baby. looks awesome though Danish oil is basically an oil varnish blend finish. It contains boiled linseed oil, oil based varnish, and thinned down with solvent. You can make it yourself cheaper. Any finish is food safe or non toxic once it cured in 30 days. You will need more than 3 coats to achieve the gloss finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboMonk Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Danish oil is basically an oil varnish blend finish. It contains boiled linseed oil, oil based varnish, and thinned down with solvent. Please note: The term "Danish Oil" is vague and does not describe a particular formula or list of ingredients. One popular "Danish Oil" contains a mixture of linseed oil and modified soya oil, colorants, a little resin and a lot of solvent; but no varnish. Another brand contains only Polymerized Linseed Oil and no other ingredients. All "Danish Oil", and similar type products are not alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayashiox Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Please note: The term "Danish Oil" is vague and does not describe a particular formula or list of ingredients. One popular "Danish Oil" contains a mixture of linseed oil and modified soya oil, colorants, a little resin and a lot of solvent; but no varnish. Another brand contains only Polymerized Linseed Oil and no other ingredients. All "Danish Oil", and similar type products are not alike. Thank you for correcting me Danish oil is just a marketing term. I'm curious where did you get the information for Watco danish oil ingredients? If Watco Danish oil its not an oil/varnish blend or wiping varnish, its a wiping oil finish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboMonk Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Please reread what I said specifically about "Watco." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayashiox Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 One popular "Danish Oil" contains a mixture of linseed oil and modified soya oil, colorants, a little resin ]and a lot of solvent; but no varnish. No Varnish? Then how come Bob Flexner and rest of other finishers said Watco is and oil/varnish blend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboMonk Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Please reread what I said specifically about "Watco." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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