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about oiling


merlin

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So I oil most of my products I make...Then I normally polish them or buffing.

I oiled an art piece and the next thought I wood clear gloss it... bugger big mistake it went all gooey like.

So to save it I buffed it out/off and all good..

So my Q is can one gloss an oil piece and if so how long to leave until one does.

I have a few clinging crosses I wood like to gloss...

Just now had a though (hell that hurt) why not just gloss no oil...but then oil brings out the grain and such....

Cheers Merlin...

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A lot depends on many different things.. including wood type.. I find that Red Oak really soaks up the oil if dipping it in.. I almost always use Danish oil.. each oil type probably dries differently. Other factors for drying is Temperature and humidity.. In the summer months projects up in the hot loft of my shop dry out pretty good within 3 days most times.. unless it's oak, LOL But in the winter time I've had projects that looked and felt dried out and ready to be top coated.. But if I bring it in the warm house it'll start seeping oil from the wood pores so I normally give it a couple days in the cold shop then bring it in for a few days.. i heat house with wood which dries out the air a lot.. so 1-2 days in here and it's dried out good..

Lacquer based clears don't get along too well with the oil finishes.. however Danish oil has a small amount of poly in it so that's what I use.. and if it needs a top coat I use the water base poly.. Water base poly doesn't change the wood grain tones so IF I'm not using oil at all first I use the oil based poly.. Doesn't make the grain pop quite as well as dipping in oil but it does pop it some..

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Oiling is a method I use for outside furniture, Usually I thin Boiled Linseed oil 50 % with turps and apply, let it soak in for a day or so and reapply, then after another couple of days use a full strength linseed oil. Once that has dried two or three coats of polyurethane gloss..
Lacquer wont take as well it is not oil based. Shellac should as to do French Polishing it is mixed with linseed oil.
Can't help with the other oils sorry.

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There are oils and there are oils.  BLO is perfectly compatible with an oil based poly/varnish top coat.  Just give it enough time to dry.  I would not recommend using mineral oil or lemon oil or similar type products that aren't really designed to be wood finishes, underneath any film finish topcoat.

The question I have is, why do you want to use both an oil and a top coat?  If you are looking to pop the grain with the oil, most solvent based top coats will do that without the need for applying oil first.  I've used BLO and topcoated with a water borne poly before, because the water borne poly won't impart any amber tint, which is what pops the grain on darker woods.  However, I applied shellac over the BLO before applying the poly, to prevent any compatibility problems between the oil and the water borne top coat.

I don't use lacquer, so I can't comment on its compatibility with oil, but I still would not use mineral oil or lemon oil under lacquer.  I would use BLO, but would still use shellac as a barrier coat before top coating with the lacquer.  May not be necessary, but I don't like experimenting on finished projects.

Best advice I can offer is to always test any new finishing schedule on scrap before committing it to a project. 

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Lacquer and oil base do not go well together.. You may get lucky and have it come out nice in the beginning but give it 2-5 years and it'll be flaking off.. 

I like to dip projects in Danish oil even if i plan to top coat.. why? because some timbers soak up a lot of spray clear ( poly ) and the Danish oil is cheap when comparing volume to the price of a spray can. I have spray equipment.. but I just don't do enough top coat finishing to justify the time in cleaning up spray equipment etc..  Anyway, dipping first and then top coating you can usually spray just a couple light topcoats rather than having the topcoat soak in and disappear into the grain.. 

I use both oil and water base poly.. typically use the water base over a dipped piece because it's already had the grain pop effect from dipping and it dries within 20 -30 minutes..

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