Hard burnishing organoil seeping..?

[timbertom]

Hey everyone..

I managed to make a very cool spotted gum coffee table with timber salvaged from a power poll! I've finished it with organoil, on Melbourne cup day, finished assembly on Wednesday night and had it in my lounge room since. I noticed some oil spotting on the back of a few books that I had on the table and its looks like the oil is seeping through we're I've filled large cracks with the slurry.

Has this happened to others? When do you think it will dry out? Any ideas?

Btw, I also noticed some light scratch marks on the table simply from a magazine... I'm sure it'll buff out but is this usual for organoil?

[LGS]

Hi Tom,

A couple of things. How much oil did you add at each coat? Did you wipe it off fully after each application?
How long between coats?
It sounds like you used a bit too much oil at each coat without a long enough time for each coat to dry. (24 hrs minimum-48 hrs optimal)

The scratches should not be happening an may be due to the fact that the oil hasn't cured properly.

A neat way to get rid of the excess oil is to use a paper towel on the bottom of a ROS and go over the table with it. Probably need about two or three goes today and then, depending on how it looks tomorrow, maybe another couple of shots. This should remove excess and allow the saturated surface to cure properly.

How did you apply the oil?

Regards,

Rob

[timbertom]

hey rob,

This is how i applied the oil (i pretty much tried to follow the range of instructions on woodwork forums..)
- i flooded the the table top to the point where the whole surface looked wet.
- i let it sit for approx 15 minutes add ing a little extra oil in parts where it started to look dry
- then i began ROS from 400 to 600. then hand sanded up till 1500.
- then wiped it down with an old tshirt.

thats it... i should mention the slurry didnt really look like i expected and was more like.. ear wax (sorry, the only thing that comes to mind right now!)

the finish is more of a warm matt-to-satin finish (SEE ATTACHED PIC BELOW).i was also hoping to apply ubeaut trad wax when it was appropriate to do so.. (any ideas as to when i should apply the wax?)

i should mentioned that the surface feels really nice, silky smooth. doesnt feel wet or oily. its only the larger cracks where the oil seems to be resurfacing..only slightly.

hope this info helps in your formulation!!

thanks!

tom.




image copy.jpeg

[LGS]

Hi Tom,

The slurry looked as it should, sort of thick and melted chocolate like. It's interesting talking to Organoil about the method, they actually suggest an hour for the oil to seep in then wiping off the slurry at 400g and running the ROS with paper towel until no more slurry is left and the surface feels dry.
It is possible to get the shiny finish you want without the addition of wax. A couple of the benefits of HBO are that it is liquid (hot and cold) resistant, as well as resistant to radiant heat, ( I regularly put steaming hot pots and pot lids on the kitchen bench I coated with HBO. AND...you can wipe it down with ordinary kitchen cleaners like "Spray and Wipe" with absolutely no damage to the finish. It's food safe too after curing. (48 hrs.)
So if you can avoid putting extra finishes on, that's actually a good thing. I suggest you try the following.

1. Use the paper towel on the table to remove excess oil. Also, you buy ROS pads from Festool up to 4000g. The first two are just normal sanding pads at 1200 and 1500g. (They're about $1.20 I think) The other two are called Platin 2 pads (2000g and 4000g), they are about $4.00 each, rewashable and after you've used this method, you'll use them again. Anthony at Ideal Tools can provide them for you if you can't get them locally. You only need one of each.
2. Take the table back to 240g. Then sand to 400g and remove dust from the surface (Tack cloth or a wash with turps).
3. Do as you did before, flooding the oil onto the table top and leave it for 30-60 minutes. No need to add further oil at this stage.
4. Immediately before sanding, use a saturated cloth to resoak the work piece, then immediately sand with the 400 pad and then the 600g. You should have a thick slurry on the surface at this stage. But don't despair if its not that thick and also don't worry if the ROS doesn't seem to be rotating as freely as you expect.
5. Sand with the grits in order until you reach 4000. At this stage there should be no slurry left on the table as the Platin 2 pads will have picked it up
6. Brisk wipe with a cotton cloth and you are finished.

This is how it should look.

Regards,

Rob

[timbertom]

hey rob

in regards to sanding down the top and giving it another go, im a bit reluctant as the legs are simply glued to the underside of the table and dont want to compromise the join.

(legs have been shaped and then glued 'into' and routed channel in a block of spotted gum which was then glued to the underside of the table - see pic) Glue used was titebond 3.

photo.JPG

i would like to apply the trad wax as i really like the softness of the finish, both the look and feel. do you think i should wait before giving the wax a go?

thanks again,tom.

[LGS]

Hi Tom,

Use the paper towel to mop up the excess oil, then give the table about a week to dry. Then I'd suggest you use UBeaut EEE cream as a final cutter and then coat with Traditional Wax.

Regards,

Rob