This is my basic procedure. (I'm no finishing expert but this works for me.) Over the years I've talked with others and read advice and books and it seems to be a fairly common finish although other people do have variation in their steps.
- After scraping and sanding, i soak in "danish" oil. If I want to fill the pores on wood like walnut I'll wet sand with the oil, perhaps 320, then 400 then wipe that off and let dry/cure before soaking. I don't have a bucket full of oil do soak it in like some do but I keep applying until the wood won't take any more oil. The end grain will usually soak up a lot of oil. For small areas that are soaking up a lot and still not saturated I might "immerse" in oil by plastering a piece of paper towel to the area and dousing it with oil and keep applying until saturated. Another way to immerse with a small amount of oil is to put the piece in a big zip lock bag and add oil to the bag. I might let the oil soak in for an hour or so then wipe off the surface oil with a paper shop towel. Let it dry and cure completely. I allow 3-4 days, some suggest a 4-7 days. (my shop is heated in the winter if that matters)
- If I want a glass-smooth surface and the wood still has visible pores I wet sand with the oil with fine (400-600) sandpaper on the first coat after wiping away excess oil then wipe it dry. (This is after the wet sanding with coarser paper earlier in the process.)
- For subsequent coats I wipe on, wait 20-30 minutes then wipe it dry with a paper shop towel. Let that dry overnight then repeat. Each coat adds an extremely thin layer of resin/varnish. Coats after the first are very thin films and dry quickly. I might apply 5-10 coats. The whole process is an exercise in patience - might take 4-6 weeks.
- For a gloss surface I buff with the Beale wheels. This gives a glossy surface but one I prefer instead of the thick transparent look you can get with lacquer, poly, or something like TruOil. If I want a glass-smooth surface but not a gloss (and I have enough time), I'll apply multiple coats then rub it with something to give a sheen instead of a shine (pumice, rottenstone, very fine sandpaper, 0000 steel wool, fine abrasive pad/scotchbrite).
The oil does darken many woods but it can also really make interesting figure "pop" (test on scrap).
One thing - I've used this on a lot of species but made a mistake putting it on beautiful cocobolo once. It seemed to accelerate the darkening and turned almost as black as ebony in a relatively short time! I haven't seen that on any other species.
Safety: as with some other finishes, a wad of oil soaked paper towels and rags can catch fire spontaneously. I spread them out to dry in the shop. Some lay them out in the driveway to dry or put them in a bucket of water.
If you ask Sir Google to kindly look for "danish oil finish" you will probably find lots to read.
JKJ