Watching a dvd of Jimmy Clewes turning a bowl and he used Chestnut Finishing Oil. I found that it's a tung oil but that's about all. Anyone familiar with it and if so is there a comparable product here in the US?
Dave Fritz
Dave Fritz
Watching a dvd of Jimmy Clewes turning a bowl and he used Chestnut Finishing Oil. I found that it's a tung oil but that's about all. Anyone familiar with it and if so is there a comparable product here in the US?
Dave Fritz
I would think that you could use other products like Minwax Antique Oil or Watco Natural Danish oil Finish. The Minwax product is more like a varnish if you apply more than one coat while the Watco product is much thinner and probably doesn't contain any varnish.
The more I read the more I get confused. They are both wiping varnish (or oil/varnish blends) according to this Popular Woodworking Magazine article:
Common brands of finish that are wiping varnish:
Formby’s Tung Oil Finish
Zar Wipe-on Tung Oil
Val-Oil
Hope’s Tung Oil Varnish
Gillespie Tung Oil
Waterlox
General Finishes’ Sealacell
General Finishes’ Arm R Seal
Daly’s ProFin
Jasco Tung Oil
Common brands of finish that are oil/varnish blends:
Watco Danish Oil
Deft Danish Oil
Behlen Danish Oil
Maloof Finish
Behr Scandinavian Tung Oil Finish
Minwax Tung Oil Finish
Minwax Antique Oil Finish
Velvit Oil
Behlen Salad Bowl Finish
Behlen Teak Oil
Watco Teak Oil
However, varnishes are supposed to have some type of resin and the MSDS for Watco Danish oil doesn't list any resin. Unless Dipropylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether is a resin.
James is right on with this. And further in the article Flexner stated that none of the "tung oil" have any tung oil in them and as stated most are varnish blends. I am not well versed in chemical names of varnish and these products do not give proportions. I would suppose that the proportions in the mix is what causes the different properties. Watco for instance is not designed as a "film" finish, but is supposed to be a penitrating finish which goes into the top layer of the wood. It will give a film with patience and enough coats.
Waterlox IS a tung oil finish. It comes to several flavors, primary being red-can "sealer" and green-can "gloss."
I use Waterlox a lot. It builds up in 3-5 coats.
It gives a slight Amber cast to the near white woods. It works well over dyes and stains too.
One caution is that it likes to gel. I put mine in plastic drink bottles.
When done I put the cap on loosely and squeeze until a bit runs out under the cap then close the cap.
The bottles get quite crushed near the end so be on the lookout for trapped bubbles.
There is usually one tiny air bubble that seems not to hurt anything.
I have had Waterlox stay good for over 6 months in these crushed plastic bottles.
One time in the last 10 years or so we had one go to gel for no apparent reason overnight.
The bottle had no air in it and it still gelled up.
Have fun,
Al
With such a short shelf life I would be concerned about buying it locally because it may have already been on the shelf for six months. Online things probably move a lot faster.
The unopened shelf life is years and years.
The cans I get it in have a metal plug.
Hey Mark! I’m on a search for a new finish. Up until a month ago I used Behlen’s Rockhard Tabletop Varnish; it was a phenolic resin varnish that performed beautifully for my uses. When I ran out of what I had, I discovered that Behlen’s changed the recipe to a urethane resin and I don’t like it. My opinion is not based on scientific evidence, the stuff is just different all around and I don’t like it.
Anyway, the search for a phenolic-based replacement began with Waterlox. The MSDS for both the sealer and the gloss lists tung oil, ester gum, and phenolic resin. I think I could like this once I get my own techniques with it worked out. Last evening I picked up a can of Epifanes High Gloss varnish – it’s a “phenolic-modified alkyd resinâ€. Not sure how it will compare to my old Behlen’s but I had a good email conversation with the Epifanes contact person. Dang, I hate it when manufacturers change a good product...
Waterlox says to remove the metal plug and then replace it before screwing on the lid. Ive only used it a couple of times and the metal plug is getting pretty bent around the edge where you pry it up. Any tips, Al?
Seems the topic has moved to finishes generally. Well I store waterlox in old wine bottles and pull a vacuum with one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Vacuum-Bottle-Stoppers/dp/B00004SAF4
Actually store Danish Oil that way too. Just pour out a little as needed.
Not my idea, learned it from my mentor John. No problems yet.
Dave Fritz