Watco Danish oil finsih

[Scott T Smith]

I've used Watco Danish oil on some picture frames with great success. The most recent application was three days ago on some crotchwood red oak (feathered). Basically I followed the instruction on the container, with the additional step of wet sanding the frame during the process (using the danish oil to provide the 'wet').

The Watco oil was less than a year old, and the application was made in a shop that was around 58 degrees F. The frame was placed in a warm enviroment (120F) for 30 minutes prior to application of the oil. The first coat was flooded on via a foam brush, and kept wet for 30 minutes. At that point I wet sanded it with 180 grit, wiped it down totally, and applied a second coat. This was kept wet for 15 minutes, wet sanded with 220, then wiped off. The frame was then taken inside my house to dry overnight at around 70 degrees.

Over the next 12 hours some small pores would weep a bit, I just wiped them down 2 or three times with some tissue and that was that.

The third coat and wet sanding was last night; there is now minimal weeping from the pores.

The last time that I used Watco Danish Oil was 3 years ago; the only difference was that the wood was spalted white oak. It was also a cold weather application with similar results (and the frames were kept in a warm environment while they dried).

[Heath Fitts]

I'm a woodworking newbie and I've never used anything but basic stains before last week. I finished a project for my dad (Vietnam medals display case) made from oak with "natural" Watco Danish Oil and I loved the result. As someone else here said they did, I applied very thin coats using a scrap of old cotton t-shirt. Dampen the cloth with the oil and wipe it on. I was outside in my garage workshop and temperature was around 60-65 degrees. I followed the directions on the can waiting 30 minutes before applying the second coat. I waited overnight before very light sanding with 220 grit and applying the third coat. Each coat dried quickly and I really liked the way it looked and felt. It brought out the character in the wood and it still felt like wood, not plastic. I had no problem with tackiness or seeping from pores.

[Dave McGeehan]

My method is a little different than what Watco's directions recommend. I recently finished this piece
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=127216
using the following method:

In my basement shop, which this time of year is 60% humidity and 56 degrees, I filled a plastic tub with about a half gallon of Watco. Submerged both carvings. Let them soak for an hour. Removed and wiped off excess with rags. Placed carvings on small blocks to dry. After a few hours I wiped off any additional pools of Watco that came to the surface. Let carvings in shop for a couple days. At this point the surfaces are dry to the touch. Brought into the main part of the house so the finish cured in a few days. I will probably give them both another light coat today just to even-out any dry looking end grain areas.

On a carving with less details like this
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=87418
Taking it out of the tub, I wet sand it with 600 wet/dry sandpaper. Wipe the slurry of Watco and saw dust into the pores. After finish cures, give it two coats of Mylands wax.

I've used these methods using Watco on my carvings for over 25 years with good results. I usually use other finishes on my furniture.

Your problem might be because oak will "weep" a Watco type finish for quite a while due to its open pores and cell structure. You must wipe off as much excess as possible and check on it every few hours for the first day until all the wet spots are gone. If the excess isn't too thick, you might be able to fix your problem by wet sanding with wet/dry sandpaper using Watco as the lubricate and then wiping off the excess.

Hope this helps.