Applying home brew Danish Oil type finish

[Jim C Martin]

Hello All:
After reading quite a bit on the internet and the Sam Maloof thread on this forum, I decided to try a DIY oil finish. I have mixed up 1/3^rd Pratt and Lambert #38 (as suggested by Scott Holmes in that thread), 1/3^rd pure Tung Oil, and 1/3^rd mineral spirits. Those of you who have mixed up home brew similar to this yourselves, would you mind giving me input on how you applied it? From what I've read its pretty much what I'm used to with Watco and Tried n True: Flood the surface, leave it for a while (how long?) then wipe it down, and let it cure overnight. Any nuances with home brew?
Thanks,
Jim

[glenn bradley]

I don’t flood it on but, I am generous. I use an oil with driers like BLO. I let it sit for about 20 minuets in my desert basin area. Then I rub it off like I changed my mind.

[Scott Holmes]

The pure Tung oil home brew "Danish Oil" will take several days to completely dry. I would apply a slightly wet coat, let it soak in for an hour or so then wipe it dry. Repeat for 3 or 4 daily applications. As noted above... using BLO instead of the Tung Oil will get the Danish Oil will cure much faster; albeit a bit darker and will darken more with time...

[Prashun Patel]

I find that too much of the oil portion is unnecessary, takes longer to dry, and makes the solution less wipeable.

I find I don't need much oil for it to work well. I do more like 50% varnish + 40% MS + 10% oil.

I only flood the first coat or two, let sit for about 5 minutes. Wipe off completely but not aggressively.

For all subsequent coats, I pour enough that I can wipe around easily. Then I polish for a few seconds. Let sit for maybe a minute, then buff off.

I keep doing this until the surface is uniformly satiny sheened once dry.

[Thomas Canfield]

Finishing turned objects with similar home brew (a little more gloss varnish), I use a small section of Bounty paper towel to apply a liberal coat and then go over the surface with wet applicator towel again. After sitting about 10 minutes, I wipe off all excess brew with more Bounty paper towels and allow to sit/dry 24 hours minimum until surface has set. I use multiple coats (3 to 5) buffing with Tripoli between applications and after final application, and follow with Renaissance wax. I usually will pour some brew in small dish to dip the applicator towel section into during application. That allows getting all the little crevices coated and wiping helps wick out any excess in cracks.

[Bob Wingard]

I tend to thin my finish a LOT with VM&P NAPTHA ... then, I wet the surface with the finish, and keep it wet until any dry places that are absorbing finish rapidly go away. I feel this partially fills the pores, which helps prevent any bubbles in the finish during subsequent coats. Everyone has their "technique" and that's really about the only difference ... results are pretty much the same regardless.

[Bennett Ostroff]

I find it unnecessary to let an oil/varnish blend "soak" in for any longer than 5-10 minutes, let alone an hour or longer. It's done penetrating pretty quickly, at least for purposes of changing color/popping grain. Letting it sit for a long time also risks some of the finish drying too much and making it more difficult to wipe off the excess. And don't fall for Danish oil instructions of applying a second coat after a half hour or so, aka unneccesarily using twice as much of the product.