hand rubbed oil finish

[jon harriman]

I am putting the finishing touches on an 8 drawer dresser, and am thinking about the finish. I used baltic birch (solid wood, not ply), and would like to do a hand rubbed oil finish. I have seen David Marks use tongue oil, and I think some combination of tongue, boiled linseed and something else. I am looking for a reccomendation on an oil finish that will not take too long in between coats to cure. Also I have the option of finishing it in the basement (about 65 degrees constant) or in the detached garage (below freezing at night). I am guessing the basement is better, but the fumes will permeate the house a little.

I am a novice, and appreciate any advice. When I am done, this will be the first project I can share pics with the board.

[Lee DeRaud]

Well, the best/easiest way is to go straight to the source:
http://www.djmarks.com/stories/faq/W...hane_46687.asp
The stuff he uses is pretty much odorless: I do small stuff (boxes, coasters) with it in my dining room.

(Is it just me, or does this forum really need a FAQ?)

[jon harriman]

yeah, sorry about the noobie question. I tried doing a search but came up short. Thanks for the link, but I cannot access it?

[Lee DeRaud]

Thanks for the link, but I cannot access it?

Link's ok, looks like his site is down at the moment...try it again in a couple hours.

[Lee DeRaud]

Two problems: first, his site was down earlier (I had also tried the top-level link). After it came back up, discovered there was an extraneous space in the link in my previous message. They're both (the link and the site) working now.

[jon harriman]

Thanks again for the link. It seems to work now. I am going to give his reccomendation a try. Woodcraft should offer a frequent shopper discount card.

[Howard Acheson]

Before you make a commitment to a finish let me warn you not to use an oil based finish inside the drawers or inside the carcase if you plan to put cloth or clothing items in the dresser. Oil based finishes off-gas almost forever and the fumes will permeate the cloth. Use nothing or use shellac or waterborne finishes inside the drawers or carcase.

As to temperatures. Drying times stated on the label assume 70-75 degrees and 50% relative humidity. Temperatures below 60-65 will almost double the drying time and anything applied below50-55 may never cure properly. Keep your materials and project above 70 degrees for best performance.

David Marks does not use a real, 100% tung oil. What he calls tung oil is really General Finishes Seal A Cell. It does not contain any tung oil. It's an oil/varnish product not very different from Watco or Minwax Tung Oil Finish or any other Danish oil. You can make your own by mixing equal parts of your favorite varnish or poly varnish, boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits. Apply it heavily and let it soak in for 15-20 minutes. Then wipe it as dry as you can. Do it again the next day and you are done. It is an "in the wood" finish that will leave the look and feel of the wood.

[Mike Cutler]

The Seal-A-Cell that Howard referred to is a very easy to use product. I use it as my first coat by flooding the wood.
General Finishes also has a product Arm-R-Seal. It is essentially a wiping varnish and yields great results.
One oxymoron that you need to resolve is "Fast" and "Finish". It just doesn't exist in my experience. From final sanding to finished surface is about 7 days for me, and another few days for the finish to fully cure.

The two projects that I have in this post are both finished with the General Finishes line of products, using the technique outlined above, 4 coats total. Both the door and shelves were final finish sanded to 320. There are no dyes used.The wood is brazillian cherry.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=23141

[Mark Singer]

Mike beautiful! Well worth the time!