Tacky/ gummy Danish oil surface on stained, Tasmanian Oak

[lukeallison]

I'm a newbie to woodwork and surprised myself by successfully creating an even Black Japan stain on some Tasmanian Oak. I then decided to finish it with Danish Oil. Somehow I arrived at the decision that I should brush on a heavy coat of the oil and leave it until it dries. A week later the wood has an inconsistent tacky and shiny finish and the grain seems to have risen. I've read that wiping down the surface daily with mineral turpentine or methylated spirits will eventually remove the tacky surface. The issue is that the wood is also stained and in the small section I tried this on the turps stripped about 25% of the stain.
TLDR: What can I do to remove the tacky/ gummy Danish Oil finish from Oak without removing the stain?

Stained:

stained.jpg

Stained and Oiled:
oil1.jpg

oil2.jpg

[soundman]

when you say "black Japan" exactly what does that contain ...... it occurs to me that what ever it is stops the poly from going off.

My recomendation is not not concern yourself with the stand a scrub the thing with GP laquer thinner and start again ..... when I say scrub I mean it.

cheers

[lukeallison]

when you say "black Japan" exactly what does that contain ...... it occurs to me that what ever it is stops the poly from going off.

My recomendation is not not concern yourself with the stand a scrub the thing with GP laquer thinner and start again ..... when I say scrub I mean it.

cheers

I haven't considered that. I mean Feast Watson Proof Tint Stain (Japan Black colour). I applied that, let it dry for 24 hours then applied the Feast Watson Scandinavian Oil (Danish Oil). However, when I say applied the DO I mean I painted on a thick layer ensuring all surfaces were very wet and never wiped the excess off. I can see that the poly is actually hardening more and more as each day passes and absorbing a little more into the wood, leaving an uneven, semi-glossy finish. After trying Mineral Turpentine, Methylated Spirits, Acetone and eventually more Danish Oil in an attempt to strip the wood back I realised that it would be much more cost-effective to buy another piece of wood and start again, which I've done. Now I'm worried that I'll have the same issue due to the Proof Tint and Scandinavian Oil interacting.

I'll do a test on some scrap.

[Toymaker Len]

All oils have to be wiped off thoroughly before they dry. brush on, leave for ten minutes and then wipe off, leave for a day or two then repeat. If a thick coat has hardened then it needs to be scraped back until all gone then start again. If this removes a lot a stain then you will have to restain or possibly add the (oil-based) stain to the finish oil that you are using.

[lukeallison]

All oils have to be wiped off thoroughly before they dry. brush on, leave for ten minutes and then wipe off, leave for a day or two then repeat. If a thick coat has hardened then it needs to be scraped back until all gone then start again. If this removes a lot a stain then you will have to restain or possibly add the (oil-based) stain to the finish oil that you are using.

Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm past that. I'm all good now aside from the possibility that the stain and oil aren't playing nice with each other. Doubtful that will be a problem but I'll test soon.

[LGS]

That piece of wood looks to still have marks from
the mill on it. How far through the grits did you take it to prepare the surface? Maybe Yeah, yeah, yeah isn't the best way to encourage help. You're asking and we're answering.

[lukeallison]

I didn't sand it at all as it's "dressed". I figured it was pre sanded.

[LGS]

Well, that's probably half your problem. There are valleys and mountains on a "dressed" piece of timber. Before you start on the next one, try sanding it down to about 240-400. You might find that you'll get the result you want.

Regards,

Rob

[lukeallison]

Is there a reason to use 240-400 and not lower? Valleys and mountains as in a non-straight surface? I thought these would be milled to a nearly perfectly flat surface.

[LGS]

The timber is run through a thicknesser, but it depends on what thicknesser you are using, the quality and purpose of the timber. Why would you make Tas Oak for example, flat as possible for making fence posts?
What's the problem with sanding to 240? It's the minimum most people would sand to. Do you want to do any work on this or have it all done for you? You could try another timber yard, one that sells furniture grade timber and see if that's flat enough for your purpose, but I'd still sand to at least 240 and probably to 400. It will
give a superior finish

[lukeallison]

Sorry, I meant higher. Why not go 600, 800, 1200? Is there a point of diminishing returns at 400?

[LGS]

There's not really a law of diminishing returns, but for your first application, you could go something like, 100, 240, 400. and that will probably give you what you want. Higher grits can be used but they are more in play when you are going to apply an oil and then sand it in to the wood. Or in other cases where a high gloss may be desired. In this case, you'd sand to 400 and apply the oil, then sand the oil into the wood. This gives a good base for the application of the oil and then wipe on Poly, or another product. Have a look here and click on Hard Burnishing Pictures. This is just one of a multitude of finishing techniques, but the thing I want you to understand is that you can take a rough piece of timber and sand it to make it reflect flat timber sanded to 4000 grit. Try using 240 and 400 grit and see how you get on.

[lukeallison]

Will wet (oil) sanding pull the stain out of the wood? Otherwise it looks like an awesome technique to get a uniform finish with the oil.

[LGS]

Keep a bit of the stained and dried wood and add the oil as proscribed. I think it works OK, but I've only ever used it on natural timbers. You might find that wipe on Poly will do the job for you.

Regards,

Rob

[lukeallison]

Really starting to notice the vertical lines in the wood that runs perpendicular to the grain. Are these the milling lines? I'm sanding my heart out with 240 and it's slowly fading them. Was I supposed to start with something more coarse?