Experience with OSMO wood finishes?

[John Shillabeer]

Does anyone have any experience with OSMO wood finishes?
My local wood store has started to stock these natural oil and wax finishes on the recommendations of the woodworkers club (ie flatworkers). The woodworkers are very enthusiastic about it.

The OSMO line is imported from Germany. The company claims to be very green, the products are food safe and sustainable. However, they are more expensive than other finishing products sold here.
The OSMO brochure does not mention finishing turnings.

I'm a bit reluctant to be the first to try an OSMO wax finish on my next bowl, so has anyone tried it? With what result?

 

[Mark Wollschlager]

Shouldn't matter after it cures. Their web site was short on detail.
It looks like they sell mostly floor and deck finishes.
If you can get a sample size, why not give it a try.

 

[Josh Stevens]

I have a bit of experience with Osmo Poly-x and it is a fantastic and durable finish for tables and flat work but because it is an oil/wax finish it is thicker than oil and the manufacturers recommend sanding no higher than 240 grit. If you only sanded a bowl to 240 you'd see scratch marks everywhere so I've been experiment with different applications to find what works best. According to the manufacturers if you sand too high it closes up the pores in the timber and stops the finish from soaking in enough to give the best protection.

At the moment I'm using Livos oils as an undercoat and then Osmo on top to give the sheen I desire (matt or satin). I've tried applying the oil first and then sanding after but it's not cheap (in Australia) and too expensive to wet sand through all the grits.

I still haven't decided if it's something I'm going to continue experimenting with but I was contemplating getting some of the Oslo thinners to thin out the finish and apply a thin first coat to soak in and then a full strength top coat...haven't tried yet though.

 

[John Shillabeer]

Josh:

I take your point about the 240 grit scratches and the oil finish and the likelihood of sealing up the pores if using finer grit papers.
Based on the information in the OSMO brochure I was thinking that their line of wax finishes would be more appropriate for turnings.. Your thoughts?

 

[Mike Brazeau]

I have not used the Osmo products but have heard nothing but positive comments. Earlier this year Wood Chuckers brought the GM of Osmo Canada to our Golden Horseshoe Guild to present the product line. One of our senior members had mentioned during Show & Tell in June that he was really happy with them. After seeing your post, I spoke to him about it at our meeting last week and got more details. He is using the 3054 High Solids Polyx Oil. He likes a satin finish (as do I). He sells his work in a few local galleries and has for years. I have been contemplating using one of their outdoor finishes on some outdoor furniture.