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Thread: How long does BLO need to dry before Shellac topcoat?

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    How long does BLO need to dry before Shellac topcoat?

    I will be applying BLO to some cherry this weekend. My plan is to pretty much flood the surface for about 5 min, then wipe off the excess and let it dry, then pad on some garnet shellac.

    If I apply the BLO tonight, can I apply shellac tomorrow during the day, or do I need to wait 24 hours?

    Thanks!

  2. #2
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    Rob,

    It depends on weather conditions: humidity and temperature. I've found 12-24 hours to usually be sufficient but sometimes it takes 48 hours, too!
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  3. #3
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    I'd give it at least 2 days and do it on a test piece first so there won't be any suprises on the real thing. Also keep in mind the darkening that will occur with cherry. Leave your test piece out in the sun (car dashboard is a good spot) for a week or 2. This will show you what your piece will eventually look like. The difference is substantial.

    David

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Romano View Post
    I'd give it at least 2 days and do it on a test piece first so there won't be any suprises on the real thing. Also keep in mind the darkening that will occur with cherry. Leave your test piece out in the sun (car dashboard is a good spot) for a week or 2. This will show you what your piece will eventually look like. The difference is substantial.

    David
    I have actually done a test board on this already, using BLO, shellac, and waterlox in various combinations. Interestingly, it darkened up quite nicely with the BLO and garnet shellac with Waterlox on top vs the waterlox alone. I was really curious of the time needed to get the BLO dry. Right now we have about 80 degrees, but it will be in the 60s over the weekend. I was hoping for 12 hours, but will obvioiusly work with whatever I have to wait to get it on right.

  5. #5
    On my table I just did, I kept a "wet surface" for about 30 minutes to fill the grain, then wiped it off. The primary rag I used, I spread out over a metal shelf rod in the same room ( so it would self combust ) and when the rag was dry ( in my case about 48 hrs ) I put on a 2nd coat of BLO lightly with some 400 grit wet/dry paper to fill any pores left over. Wiped down, same trick with that rag. The next day the rag was dry, the table was dry, I sprayed the shellac.

  6. #6
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    I don't have a lot of experience with this but I had heard give the BLO a long time to dry and repeated it in a post and then got this in response to my comment. (A cut and paste from the post)

    Believe it or not, you can oil with BLO lightly, wipe off, let it soak for about a half hour, wipe it clean and coat immediately with de-waxed shellac. I would have never believed it until and article not long ago by Jeff Jewitt. Since then, I've done this frequently. In fact, I built and finished the face frames for my wet bar project that way in just one day from start to final installation. You do want a very light oil...just enough to do it's thing without leaving excess.
    And now for something completely different....

  7. #7
    If you're using BLO to pop the grain, just wipe some on and wipe it off, you can then coat with shellac in a few hours (overnight is good too). You don't need to flood the surface with BLO if you're just using it to pop the grain. If you do decide to let it flood and sit then wait until the oil has dried fairly hard (2-3 days).

  8. #8
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    What Steve Wilson said. In fact, I completely sanded and finished the face frame for the wet bar in the addition in less than one day...and installed it, too. The BLO went on light, was wiped off in a few minutes, allowed to set for maybe an hour, sprayed with shellac (several coats) and then sprayed with USL about an hour after the last coat of shellac. (several coats)

    I would have never tried this if I hadn't read a Jeff Jewitt article in FW awhile back about doing a quick finish this way. I had already tried it on the base of my tiger maple candle stand with great success, too.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
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    I'm going to show my ignorance when it comes to finishing: I thought you first sealed with the dewaxed shellac BEFORE using linseed oil in order to control/reduce the liklihood of blotching. Am I wrong?

  10. #10
    Jeff,

    Not necessarily. It would at first glance seem the case, but the effect of blotching is increased in part by the liquidity (vs. thickness) of the material being used and the amount of time BLO (or whatever the material used that is causing the blotching) is allowed to soak into the surface. In this case, as Jim and others have described, they applied it and left it on the surface for a very short time, and then wiped it off. The small amount left then was allowed to cure. Give the thickness of linseed oil, it will tend to have the same resultant effect as gel stain in that it won't soak deep. And if we wipe it off sooner, it has even less of a chance to soak in and contribute to blotching. The thin film left becomes just that - a thin film. The shellac then applied will seal the surface from allowing anything else to penetrate the surface, while allowing the 'pop' of the grain to be seen through the shellac.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jeff Wright View Post
    I'm going to show my ignorance when it comes to finishing: I thought you first sealed with the dewaxed shellac BEFORE using linseed oil in order to control/reduce the liklihood of blotching. Am I wrong?
    If you seal the wood, the oil has nowhere to go. Whatever you put on will just get wiped off. Oil then seal with de-waxed shellac and go from there.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #12
    Jeff, what Jim said. I will only add that you can reduce the blotchies (mostly in cherry) by flooding the surface with solvent before applying the oil, or thin the oil with solvent. For poping cherry I like BLO:Tung Oil:Turpentine in the ratio of 1:1:2 to 1:1:9 with the later used with figured cherry to reduce the blotchies. I've also quit using oil on cherry plywood and just use shellac on it.

  13. #13
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    Program note...if you go with the mix that Steven mentions, you then must wait for a full cure. Tung oil (the real stuff) doesn't like to be top coated before it's time. BLO is much more forgiving in that respect.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Yerardi View Post
    The shellac then applied will seal the surface from allowing anything else to penetrate the surface, while allowing the 'pop' of the grain to be seen through the shellac.
    What does the term "pop" the grain mean?

    Thanks.
    Stephen Edwards
    Hilham, TN 38568

    "Build for the joy of it!"

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stephen Edwards View Post
    What does the term "pop" the grain mean?

    Thanks.
    It means to enhance, accentuate.

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