Blotchy Danish Oil

Sorry if I'm bringing up a subject that has been discussed before, but I've recently used Danish Oil for the first time on a couple of pine projects. The finish has come out very irregular. Darker and lighter in spots. I've followed the directions on the can, so don't understand the results. Another question I have is, whether it would be ok to shellac over the danish oil, once I have reached the desired results?

Thanks for the help, I'm kinda new at this finishing stuff. Always just painted before.

Neal:?

Hi Neal,

Nope, don't try Shellac over oil ... won't work.

Blotches are prob. caused by uneven take up of the oil. Typical of pine. A first coat or two of thin Shellac would have reduced it.

I'm afraid that if the blotches scream at you, you might be facing sanding right back and starting again but this is just guessing; I've never had to retrieve this kind of situation. Others will know more about pine.

Thanks, Ern. So it's ok to put oil ''''''''''''''''over the shellac? I understand the shellac sealing the grain, but then how does the oil penetrate?

Told you I'm a newbie at this !!!

Neal

Well I'm not that much more experienced Neal ... I do mostly finishing of turnings.

Yep, the shellac seals the grain and thus controls the penetration of the oil. Pine's take up of finishes varies ... that's why it's hard to stain evenly eg. Some areas suck it up and go dark, some suck up less and remain light. Could this be what happened with your oil?

So maybe let's back up ... what are your projects and how much handling/punishment are they going to get? And can you readily sand off what you've done?

Hi there,
I'm in a similar situation, I want to try and reduce blotching in my piece, but I haven't finished it yet. Applying a sealer, you'd have to apply a washcoat first so it partially seals the wood. Basically thinning it down to a low solids content (between 3-10% depending on how much you want to darken the piece, try a test piece first). There is a link here which may be helpful http://www.finishwiz.com/washcoatsolids.htm . I'm not sure about using shellac, I haven't used it before so I can't really comment. Also, is the pine piece an open pored wood? If it is it will suck up oil more accentuating blotching. If it is an open pored wood, you may need to try raising the grain before applying the finish. Are you familiar with raising grain?
Hope this helps
tomas

Let me try to help out here...

Yes, you can coat over Watco, it is another one of the many "drying oil finishes" like Tung Oil or BLO, but you must allow it to "cure for a couple of days," the longer you allow the curing the safer you will be.

Regarding, using the Shellac as someome already mentioned, yes, shellac is used for "reducing or preventing blotching." The shellac should be reduced to a 1 1/2 pound cut, use two thin coats, and then sand level and smooth, and then clean up, then apply the color, be it stain or watco and allow for drying.

I strongly sugesst you make up a "complete sample" first, as usually the sealer will prevent any pentration, so, the color will be lighter, adjustments maybe neeeded.

MacS

Wow! You guys are awesome. All this information to a simple question. That's what I like about these forums, the way everyone is so helpful. I have sanded off the original oil, and re-done the oiling, and it seems a little better now, tho' still somewhat blotchy. I have no patience, so, that's probably the big problem. Anyway, I did go ahead and put 2 coats of shellac over the oil, after about a week of drying time. Seems to be better now. Big thing is, LOML thinks its great. Thanks again for the info. Will put it to good use in future projects.

Neal

I hope this helps in reducing or preventing blotching.

MacS

Is this the right place to put it?

Neal

Especially if you are using Cherry, some woods are prone to blotch. Cherry is especially renouned for this.

I used a thin coat of Shellac first on this Cherry tabletop, then three coats of Danish Oil.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2.../Tabletop2.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

looks lik your sealer coat of shellac raised the grain in the timber.
this is GOOD,
but you have to sand again after or the raised grain will cause bloches.
if i use danish oil on a soft timber i usually apply a thick coat of thin shellac if this makes sense, then sand again from a 120 gritpaper though 180 to 240.
on soft timber I dont usually go much finer.
then recoat with thin shellac let dry at least 12 hours then use thick coat of danish oil aplied with a cloth fad
let dry 48 hours, sand again with good quality 320 or even 000 steel wool,.you should rub with the grain hard enough to rais e a fine dust but dont concentrate one one patch so the dry surface is unevenly thin ,
clean up dust between coats.
danish oil is great but dosnt like dust.
make youself another fad ( a wad of COTTON cloth with a smooth bottom face)
put on another coat of oil,
the nice thing about danish oil is that if you put it on thin and quickly it will spread itself out and not leave "brush" marks
regardless of what it says on the can, dont leave for ten minuits before wiping off excess, do it within 5 mins and leave it alone.

astrid