Using Watco Danish Oil for the first time

[sroxberg]

Planning to use Watco Danish oil for the first time on a Cherry Blanket Chest. I plan to finish the outside, but leave the inside of the chest, and the inside of the lid unfinished unless others recommend otherwise.

I was planning to sand to 220 grit.
Don't know if I should top coat or not, but can spray a top coat if it is recommend. Would prefer water based poly to spray but shellac would also be an option.

Any pointers, thoughts, recommendations?

Is 220 fine enough for the sanding?

[Scoony]

You should be fine. I would leave the inside bare, and top coat the oil with a waterbased poly.

[JR1]

My first reaction is don't. The oil/varnish mixes are easy to apply ande produce good results; but look less well than the same work with better finishes. (You definately do not need to topcoat using Danish Oil—unless this is actually a sea chest.)

As you can spray I'd apply 2–3 1# coats of shellac Thai seed, ruby or garnet work well on cherry and if you wish you can always add a little Transtint to the shellac to get exactly the color you want. Its very easy to spray and you needent go above 180 grit when sanding initially (I rarely go above 120) an then follow with 400 grit between coats. Whether or not you finish the inside is your call but unless you have a toxic wood or one that develops splinters best left alone.

You don't need to topcoat here but for occasions where chemical resistance or durability are desired, look at the Crystalac or GF waterborne finishes.

[Doug_H]

I definitely would finish the inside of the chest. Acrylic (Polycrylic) or shellac would not leave an odor inside after they dried. Oil or oil/varnish like Watco would smell for a long time inside, so I would not recommend that you use them on the inside.

My reason for recommending that you finish both sides more or less the same is that the top (especially) may warp slightly as ambient relative humidity changes seasonally and one side exchanges moisture with the environment faster than the other.

This is a theoretical concern, and not everybody will agree with it. Certainly, there are cedar chests that have the inside unfinished and that don't warp much.

It depends on your local circumstances, i.e, how much RH changes indoors from summer to winter.. So this is a judgement call.

Doug

[sroxberg]

Well, I did a test piece of scrap today and I like the color, but suprise I've got some blotching on Cherry.

So, the top is made from Curly Cherry and I want that curl to show.

How do I eliminate the blotches on the base cabinet but pull out the curl on the top?

Maybe a first coat of Shellac lightly sanded, and then the oil?

I'm also not again just Shellac but but like to warm color that the oil seem to add.

[JR1]

Shellac is available in many colors and you might like the warmer looking Garnet rather than the redder ruby. You can also mix trnstint dyes to get different clor and tone. If you want the deeper appearance and are happy with the color oil gives then just use a good oil (real Tung oil—highly polymerized—or good BLO) and forget the varnish; it does little to protect the wood.

[sroxberg]

So by forget the varnish, you must be stating that the oil I bought is/has Varnish it it?

[JR1]

The WATCO et al "…Danish, TUNG, " oils have no Danes, or for that matter Tung oil. They usually have cheap oil (often cotton seed and a varnish of unknown quality and origin. While this provides some protection beyond plain oil—which provides very little—it doesn't appear to be significantly better than plain shellac.

[cputnam]

As a final finish, shellac has the redeeming quality of being easy to repair - just add more shellac.

On the cherry chests I've done I started with a ~ 1 lb cut of garnet shellac which was then well sanded back. Then a wipe on coat of BLO which was wiped off after about a minute. Then about 3 -4 applications of a <= 2 ib cut of garnet shellac.

Worked for me. Note that my cherry was not curly although it had some in spots.

[Scoony]

JR1 said:

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The WATCO et al "…Danish, TUNG, " oils have no Danes, or for that matter Tung oil.

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JR1, what the heck is that supposed to mean? Was there ever a claim that is had "danes" in it?

Danish oil is nothing more than some oils, thinners, and varnish mixed together. Watco adds in some colors for different wood species.

I have used Watco Danish oil in the past, and it works fine for a nice rubbed in finish and their Fruitwood oil really warms up walnut nicely.

I have been using Minwax antique oil and have not noticed blotching with cherry. It also seems to have alkyds in it as it dries much faster than Danish oils. For blanket chests, I use the antique oil followed by either shellac, or a water based poly.

As for finishing the inside, if you’re using solid joinery, there is no need to finish both sides to prevent cupping, the joinery will take care of that. If you do want to use a finish on the inside, the most important factor would be protection of whatever will be stored inside the chest. Oil based finishes will stain fabrics and smell pretty bad for a long time.
If I do finish the inside, I use Zinsser’s Seal Coat which is a clear dewaxed shellac and works just fine for that application.