Question re wax over danish oil

[BobR]

Have used danish oil as the finish on a chest of drawers. The required two weeks have now passed and waxing can be carried out. Prior to waxing I have sanded with 600 and 1200. However, there is now a white coating over the timber. I can only assume that this is the danish oil after fine sanding. Can I also assume that the waxing will make this invisable, or do I have more work to do?

[Auld Bassoon]

Bob,

A few weeks ago I posted a brief note on a "weather station" that I'd made as an excuse to see how some Cypress that I'd bought would look resawn, veneered, etc. and to try out my new Lie Nielsen chisels (see "Something for the Study).

Anyway, I used Danish oil and the next day waxed it with uBeaut (I tried the wax on a circle cut out for one of the instruments first, to see if it would misbehave - it didn't, and the whole box still looks great!

I didn't sand the oiled surface though, just used some uBeaut EEE and gave it all a good rub...

Cheers!

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Any particular reason you started @ 600? Or skipped grits straight to 1200? I'm just curious about your reasons, when I wax over Danish I find either only the 1200 grit or 0000 steel wool more than sufficient.

I'm not sure about the white coating you're seeing; after sanding I usually wipe the job down using a clean cloth wetted with just a couple of drops of Danish. This does produce a fine haze, which is hardly surprising... it'd just been sanded! But I'd hardly describe it as a "coating." The haze becomes less apparent after waxing, becoming more of a satin sheen

Which is why I wax my oiled items; that's the finish I like.

Instead of hoping it'll "go away" with waxing, how 'bout trying a test patch somewhere that won't be obvious? Did you oil the underside anywhere? The bottom edge of the drawer fronts, maybe? This is always a good method to keep in mind when approaching "new" finishes.

[BobR]

Thanks for the reply Steve.

To let all know how I made out. Being too impatient to wait for a reply I decided to test the wax on the back of the chest. The timber is southern myrtle and after sanding the oiled surface up to 1200 it felt like glass. Using a tack cloth I wiped the whole surface down using quite a bit of pressure. Some of the white coating went with this, but not all. Applied the wax and the coating disappeared. Allowed this to dry for a little over 5 minutes then polished with a soft cloth. This was followed by buffing with an orbital sander and lamb's wool. Very smooth surface with a shine to it - not a gloss though. My preference is for this type of finish. So there you have it. Hope this helps someone else.