Help!!! Finishing Walnut Coffee Table w/ Danish oil and wax???

[Sherwood Day]

IMG_2927.jpgIMG_2929.jpgHi folks,
I'm a total newbie to woodworking/finishing, so please forgive any ignorance on my part. I have a walnut coffee table I'm making that I applied 3 coats of Danish oil. However, after letting it sit all weekend, it looks cloudy, and unfinishied. I love the color, and grain, but it doesn't have any sheen whatsoever, with no pop... just very dull. Should I apply wax or some other product to finish and make it look complete. Any help is much appreciated!!!
Thanks!
Sherwood

[Prashun Patel]

Two questions:
1) What grit did you sand to ?
2) How did you apply the Danish oil.

It takes a few coats for enough varnish to deposit into the wood to get a noticeable sheen. Here's what I would do:

Sand that table with 400, then 600 grit sandpaper, dry, with an orbital sander. Don't aim to strip the finish, just smooth it nice and even. If your finish is dry enough and you're sanding lightly enough, you'll get a whitish, baby-smooth surface. Look for swirls brought about by corns of the finish collecting on the paper. Peel those off and use fresh paper when this happens. If your ROS can take it, you may even choose to spritz a little mineral spirits on the surface as a lubricant.

Walnut can absorb the finish at different rates along its surface - especially along the sapwood vs the heart wood. Sanding to 600 helps mitigate this.

Flood on a coat of Danish oil. Wipe it around and reapply it to the 'drinky' areas. Wait a few minutes then buff the surface dry. Don't RUB HARD, but do buff it dry.

After a couple coats of this, you will have success.

Now all this is assuming that you don't want a film finish - merely a soft, good looking finish with your Danish Oil with a modest sheen.

if you want a film, you need a different product.

[Sherwood Day]

Prashun Patel, thank you so much for the info!!!

To answer your questions:

1. I used a 220
2. Applied with clean soft t-shirt-esque material.

[Phil Mueller]

Sherwood, beautiful slab! I've used Danish Oil for many projects and the cloudy sheen is a bit surprising to me. Like you, I usually sand to 220 prior to application. I flood it on with a foam brush and keep it wet for at least 30 minutes. Then wipe it off with a clean rag and let it dry for 48-36 hours. I then flood it again for 30 minutes and wet sand with 400 and do an initial wipe off against the grain (you want the sanding dust slurry to stay in the grain). After 10 minutes or so, I go back and wipe it all off with the grain. Let dry 48-36 hours. Repeat with 600 grit. When you're wet sanding, spend a little extra time on the end grain.

After the final wipe off following the 600 grit, check it every hour or so and look for shiny spots. This is oil seeping out of the wood and needs to be removed prior to it completely curing. You should end up with a very smooth, even glow. It's a lengthy process, but IMO well worth it.

NOTE: I'll only mention this because you say you are new to this; be very careful with the brushes and rags that are soaked with danish oil. They need to be layed out flat...not balled up...outside preferably, or even immersed in water. They can and will spontaneously combust if not handled properly.

[Michelle Rich]

walnut & danish oil are a match made in heaven. Like peas and carrots, sugar and spice...the wondrous feel of the wood when you finish, is delightful. Yes, you can wax it after it is all dry ...I like the combo because it ends up looking like there is no finish at all. No plastic look..no super fake shiny look. Stay with it, you will love it.