Arm-R-Seal and BLO

[Jonny Rocket]

I am finishing a cherry shaker table and someone suggested applying BLO and sun bathing to age/darken the cherry a bit before the topcoat. I like the idea, but I'm topcoating with Arm-R-Seal and just wondered if the BLO will really end up and do anything the Arm-R-Seal wouldn't do already. I'd rather not buy another can of something if I don't have to.

[fredhargis]

Somebody named Michael Dresdner (spelling?) wrote in a magazine some time ago that when used with oil based varnishes, BLO has no discernible impact on the color of the piece...the oil in the varnish gives the same enhancement. He offered several pics of different species to prove his point. I'm not sure I agree with that, but try some of the Arm R seal on a piece of scrap and see if you are happy with the look, chances are you will be. Should you still be searching for a little more color, I've taken to suing garnet shellac instead of the BLO...it also gives a nice look.

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> the oil in the varnish gives the same enhancement.

Dresdner is absolutely correct.

Another point is that linseed oil promotes white marks when a wet glass or bottle is put on a surface consisting of linseed oil followed by an oil based varnish or poly varnish. It's best to leave linseed oil in the store.

[Jonny Rocket]

You're all confirming why I asked in the first place. Some love the blo there report major issues. Guess I'll save my money and stick with the finish I know.

[jteneyck]

I did some testing on walnut and cherry a couple of years ago; exactly what you are asking about. Here is a photo of the cherry specimens:



The left specimen is straight gloss Arm-R-Seal, the middle has Sealcoat shellac then Arm-R-Seal, and the right has BLO, then Arm-R-Seal with the bottom half having Sealcoat shellac before the Arm-R-Seal.

It may be hard to see in the photo here, but the BLO made that specimen blotchy compared to the other two. The least blotch prone was the left sample with Arm-R-Seal alone.

On walnut, BLO brings out the warm red tones better than Arm-R-Seal alone. On cherry, it does nothing but potentially give problems.

John