BLO over Danish Oil on Cherry 911

[Glen Evans]

I'm making a fireplace mantle out of cherry to match the kitchen cupboards. My sample board had BLO with Deft Danish Oil (a Tung oil/poly product from Lee Valley) on top--it looked like a close match. I also made a sample with the Deft only--I thought it looked good enough. Now that its on (two coats) its not dark enough and looks a little flat. Obviously I should have stuck with the BLO.

Does anyone see any problems in topcoating the Deft with BLO and then recoating with the Deft for protection?? I really don't want to have to handplane and sand the Danish oil off!

One of the reasons I was happy to leave out the BLO was concerns about darkening (particularly since the cherry will darken on its own)--does anyone have any experience with BLO on cherry darkening faster than just the Danish oil??

thanks!

Glen

[glenn bradley]

I happened to see an original picture of a cherry box I made as a gift for my mom about 2 years ago(?). It was BLO and shellac finished. I was amazed how much darker it had become. I don't have a pic of the current color but, it went from the dark salmon color you get on cherry with BLO to an almost chestnut brown now. It sets in an airy room with plenty of indirect sunlight (the sun never hits it directly).

There are some much better finishing folks on here than I but, I would think about waiting a full season (take a pic now as a reference) before darkening it.

[Howard Acheson]

>>> Does anyone see any problems in topcoating the Deft with BLO and then recoating with the Deft for protection??

That won't work. The linseed oil and the resin components of Deftoil will have soaked and sealed the pores of the wood. BLO is a penetrating oil treatment and needs open pores for the oil to be absorbed.

BTW, Deftoil an oil/varnish product and the oil is almost all linseed oil. There is only a minuscule amount of real tung oil in it.

Deftoil comes in a number of colors as does its "kissin' cousin" Watco. Perhaps you could find a color that more closely matches what you want or mix one up from a couple of the colors.

[Casey Gooding]

Just stick it out in the sun for a few days (assuming you can move it). That will darken it up nicely.

[Ryan Sparreboom]

What Howard said. You can't put BLO over top of a oil/varnish. It won't be able to saok in and will never dry.
I agree that if your only issue is that it's too light, let it darken on it's own, it won't take long.

Ryan

[Glen Evans]

thanks guys--I kind of figured I couldn't put BLO over the varnish. I think I'm going to take off the varnish and start with BLO. I know the colour will darken but I find it quite flat looking at present--the BLO on the sample really popped the grain and brought out the other colours.

I appreciate your insights!

Glen

[Casey Gooding]

You might want to try letting it "tan" first. Stripping old finish is no fun. There may be enough oil in the finish you used to pop the grain. I think it's worth a shot. Most you loose is a day or so of letting it sit.

[Prashun Patel]

I second Casey's suggestion.

Here's what I'd do:

Attach the mantel 'temporarily'. That is, if you're attaching it to a ledger, screw it into the ledger but don't fill the holes. Let it sit as it is for a year. I agree w the other posters that yr piece will darken considerably.

You gotta let your cherry and your Deftoil do its thing.

If after a year you don't like it, you can refinish at that time. Stripping cured Danish Oil won't be hard at all. You can minimize yr use of chemicals with a good card scraper and a brass brush.