Jack Medure Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 I am finishing a coffee table, all red oak. I applied two Coates of walnut Danish oil and gave it about 6 days to dry. I applied a top coat today, min wax wipe on Polly, the base and stand is fine but the table top released oil and I mean a lot of oil from the grain? I gave it a wipe with mineral spirits before I applied the top coat. I buffed it with a soft cloth to make sure it was dry before the mineral spirits, no color came up. ???? Thanks on advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Medure Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Another note to add: I let the first coat of oil varnish to cure before the second coat, I normaly don't do this but the wife wanted it a little darker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morton Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Oil can take a long time to cure, depending on what it is. Typically if I use BLO I'll let that dry for a month or so before topping with wax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Medure Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 It is watco Danish oil varnish, I normally give it three to four days to dry and have no issues. I use it all the time and never had that happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimV Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 I believe the issue is that it is Red Oak. Red Oak has very large pores. The oil goes into those pores and seeps out for days or even weeks. I believe this is what happened with your application. The only way to take care of this is to apply the oil and re-wipe with a clean cloth a couple times a day, every day until nothing transfers to the clean cloth. This could take a week or longer with red oak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Medure Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Seems to be the issue, I got about three coats of arm-a-seal on it now, it seeped threw on the first coat and the last two went on nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 When you gave the table top a "wipe" of mineral spirits...more that likely it re-wet the oil down in the pores. Hence, starting the drying process all over again. The mineral spirits has to gas off but since you sealed that in with your first coat of Arm-R-Seal. The mineral spirits gassed off through your first coat of Arm-R-Seal, as you put "seeped through" How is the finish doing? Is it drying and how does it look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Medure Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 It seems like that's exactly what happend. I put another coat on last night, so far it looks good. The last coat I put on nothing at all came out. I have some erry faint marks from rubbing the oil off while the top coat was drying. You can only see if with bright light on it and looking at eye level. Overall it looks really good I think. I have been applying very thin coates of top coat and it is drying nice in about 4 hrs, its looking like it is going to be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Good job working through the problem....looks great. Wow, I can see how you had issues...man look at all that flat grain, little tiny retention ponds holding on to finish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Medure Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 the grain structure played havic on the second coat of oil i put on, that was the main issue. the rest of the table only had the first coat and had no similer issues. Overall im happy with the finish, just a lot more challenging than it had to be. I think im going to do about two more coats then let it cure for a couple day and get it in the house. I only have room for 1 large project at a time in my shop and my "honey do list" keeps growing!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AceHoleInOne Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 In a cool weather the finish will take longer to cure...Get it inside... if you can stand the smell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Medure Posted January 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 thats a good idea. then atleast i can start the next project, bedroom dresser. Question for ya, i have some nice old walnut i been houlding on to and i am going to make the legs for the dresser out of it, What would be a nice wood to contarst for the side panles, top and face frame? Drawer faces will be walnut. this is a pick of the walnut, old barn planking i found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Maple comes to mind first. Plain or curly maple would contrast well. Maybe some Alder or Cherry? Nice work on the oak tabletop ! I hope the finish behaves long term. I agree the mineral spirits was probably your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morton Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 I always like the classics: cherry with walnut or cherry with maple. I think maple and walnut are too far apart on the spectrum (too much contrast). I like this post by George Walker on the topic: http://georgewalkerd...ing-wood-color/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramblinrdesigns Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 Similar but different problem. I used Danish oil to touch up a kitchen cabinet that had lots of scratches and wear. It blended the color well and looked great going on but is still sticky 24 hours later. Should I rewipe it with more Danish, or Mineral Spirits, or something else, and wait for it to dry or try to remove it, and if so, with what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morton Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 If you like the way that it looks still - I would wipe it all down with a lint free cloth (rubbing pretty hard to remove the non-dry oil). Wait another 12-24 hours and do it again. Each time there should be less oil wiping off (leaking from the pores). For instance, I'm using a Danish Oil now on some walnut (very open pores) and it's taking a couple of days to dry - but each time there's less to wipe down. And it looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim0625 Posted January 27, 2012 Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 thats a good idea. then atleast i can start the next project, bedroom dresser. Question for ya, i have some nice old walnut i been houlding on to and i am going to make the legs for the dresser out of it, What would be a nice wood to contarst for the side panles, top and face frame? Drawer faces will be walnut. this is a pick of the walnut, old barn planking i found. Nice walnut. Something in maple - tiger, curly... or some ash - if you want a lot of contrast...if not so much, D. Fir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.