Suitable replacement for minwax antique oil

[Nate Hawkes]

So as some may already know, Minwax discontinued their antique oil finish. This was my favorite, which I used almost exclusively. Tung oil doesn't do it for me, and their brand tung oil finish takes several days to dry. I tried adding japan drier to it and it still was tacky after a couple days. This is completely unacceptable for me. It also doesn't have the same amount of shimmer in the woodgrain, which was part of the draw for the antique oil. Waterlox is quite a bit more expensive than the antique oil was. I thought about using a homebrew style varnish with 1 part turpentine, 1 part boiled linseed oil, and one part urethane varnish, but every time I've used it in the past the surface ends up far too glossy for my taste. Even after buffing with white scotchbrite pads. I'm open to suggestions. I have a few bowls ready for sanding and varnishing and only have 1 can of the antique oil left. The first coat I saturate the wood then buff it out with a white scotchbrite pad. I use a lot more finish than most people, but I think I get a lot better shimmer than I can get with urethane or spar varnish. Anyway, I'm needing a replacement and I don't want to just buy a bunch of different, expensive products. I've heard good things about general finishes products, but I'd rather see some results first. Thanks in advance.

 

[Adrian Wilson]

I have used lots of finishes, and made lots of concoctions, over the last forty years as a woodworker. I have just done my first couple of projects with Osmo Poly-x oil, and I'm a convert. Fine Woodwork did a roundup of the new oils recently, and Poly-x came out on top. There is a thread here that is fairly recent if you search.

 

[Richard Coers]

I use Minwax Quick Dry Poly. It used to be a much thicker viscosity, but it’s much thinner these days. A little more mineral spirits will maybe get you where you want. Personally, I’m happy with applying it with a ball of cotton cloth right out of the can. I sand between coats and do a 0000 steel wool buffing at the end.

 

[Brent@TurnRobust]

I too am a big fan of Min-Wax Antique Oil finish. A friend found a quart can and pint can for me recently in an old fashioned hardware store. I may need to put them under lock and key . I'll definitely be using a stop-loss bag when I open them. A very similar finish is Tru-Oil by Birchwood Casey. It is marketed for finishing gunstocks. It's awfully close to the min-wax product in application and appearance. You can buy a small jar to try it out. Easy to find on Amazon and other places.

 

[hughie]

So as some may already know, Minwax discontinued their antique oil finish. This was my favorite, which I used almost exclusively. Tung oil doesn't do it for me, and their brand tung oil finish takes several days to dry. I tried adding japan drier to it and it still was tacky after a couple days. This is completely unacceptable for me. It also doesn't have the same amount of shimmer in the woodgrain, which was part of the draw for the antique oil. Waterlox is quite a bit more expensive than the antique oil was. I thought about using a homebrew style varnish with 1 part turpentine, 1 part boiled linseed oil, and one part urethane varnish, but every time I've used it in the past the surface ends up far too glossy for my taste. Even after buffing with white scotchbrite pads. I'm open to suggestions. I have a few bowls ready for sanding and varnishing and only have 1 can of the antique oil left. The first coat I saturate the wood then buff it out with a white scotchbrite pad. I use a lot more finish than most people, but I think I get a lot better shimmer than I can get with urethane or spar varnish. Anyway, I'm needing a replacement and I don't want to just buy a bunch of different, expensive products. I've heard good things about general finishes products, but I'd rather see some results first. Thanks in advance.

me too

 

[hughie]

Tru-Oil by Birchwood Casey,Poly-x both are incredibly expensive compared to the old AO pricing

Osmo polyx-oil AU $74.00 375ml. and Birchwood AU $29.99 for 3oz​

 

[Brent@TurnRobust]

Tru-Oil by Birchwood Casey,Poly-x both are incredibly expensive compared to the old AO pricing

Osmo polyx-oil AU $74.00 375ml. and Birchwood AU $29.99 for 3oz​

In the US, 3 oz of Tru-Oil for $8.29 on Amazon (enough to see if you like it). 8oz for $16.60 delivered if you have Prime. I haven't seen bigger bottles, but I didn't look very hard.

 

[Adrian Wilson]

Tru-Oil by Birchwood Casey,Poly-x both are incredibly expensive compared to the old AO pricing

Osmo polyx-oil AU $74.00 375ml. and Birchwood AU $29.99 for 3oz​

In Canada, Poly-x is certainly not cheap, but cheaper than that, and a little goes a very long way.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

In the US, 3 oz of Tru-Oil for $8.29 on Amazon (enough to see if you like it). 8oz for $16.60 delivered if you have Prime. I haven't seen bigger bottles, but I didn't look very hard.

Thanks for that. Found it on Amazon as you said

 

[Paul Vechart]

I have switched to Osmo Poly-x oil and really like it. Drying time is 24 hours and with 2 or 3 light coats it leaves a nice satin sheen.

 

[Kent Reisdorph]

My go-to finish for bowls is Tried and True Original. It's a mix of beeswax and polymerized linseed oil. It contains no varnish, no additives, no driers.

 

[Kevin Jenness]

+1 for Osmo Poly-X. It is pricey but a little goes a long way. I switched from Sutherland Welles Hard Oil Sealer, which I like, but it needs more coats. I still use Sutherland Welles Millie's finish for food contact bowls- beeswax, polymerized tung oil and citrus solvent..

 

[Doug Freeman]

Suggest you give minwax helsman spar a try. Semigloss. Thin 1-1 with paint thinner. Minwax quick dry poly works pretty well also. Apply like the “antique oil” (which is just a thinned varnish).

 

[Adrian Wilson]

Suggest you give minwax helsman spar a try. Semigloss. Thin 1-1 with paint thinner. Minwax quick dry poly works pretty well also. Apply like the “antique oil” (which is just a thinned varnish).

I use that often, thinned well down, for tool handles if they might end up outside or around moist things. I will choose poly-x for pretty though. The Helmsman spar isn't what it used to be, either. They have changed it for modern regulations.

 

[Michael Nathal]

I haven't read Flexner's book in a long time but my memory of it is that both Antique oil and most Danish oils are in the same family, as blends of oil/varnish/thinner. The differences are in the relative proportions of each component. If a mixture of 1/3 of each is too glossy, add more oil. Or as Doug mentions above, try some semigloss varnish instead of gloss.

By the way, I am also a convert to Osmo Polyx. In my previous posts on Osmo, I commented on the the huge number of bowls made over a 5 year period from a single can, thus making it very cost effective.

 

[hughie]

Suggest you give minwax helsman spar a try. Semigloss. Thin 1-1 with paint thinner. Minwax quick dry poly works pretty well also. Apply like the “antique oil” (which is just a thinned varnish).

Unfortunately Minwax products are no longer for sale here, local made equivalents have forced them off the market and unfortunately not as good.

 

[hughie]

I haven't read Flexner's book in a long time but my memory of it is that both Antique oil and most Danish oils are in the same family, as blends of oil/varnish/thinner. The differences are in the relative proportions of each component. If a mixture of 1/3 of each is too glossy, add more oil. Or as Doug mentions above, try some semigloss varnish instead of gloss.

By the way, I am also a convert to Osmo Polyx. In my previous posts on Osmo, I commented on the the huge number of bowls made over a 5 year period from a single can, thus making it very cost effective.

tried amazone here

Amazon.com.au : Osmo polyx-oil

 

[Doug Freeman]

I use that often, thinned well down, for tool handles if they might end up outside or around moist things. I will choose poly-x for pretty though. The Helmsman spar isn't what it used to be, either. They have changed it for modern regulations.

The final look of regular and spar varnish is in how the wood is prepped and the finish applied - can look just as pretty as hardwax oil for much less $. The advantage of the thinned varnishes is penetration into the wood and physical strength of the cured varnish. Hardwax oils don’t achieve either one. No problem for good strong wood, but highly spalted or other weakened wood benefits from the penetration and addition of the physically stronger varnish contents.

 

[Dean Center]

Minwax Antique oil may have had a mysterious recipe, but it wasn't from exotic ingredients. There was no tung oil in it, as best I recall. Otherwise, start with 80% mineral spirits and add an oil and varnish of your choice, until you get a good copy. Since this is also the basic recipe for Danish oils, if I were in your shoes, I'd try out a few of those, and one of them is likely to work for you.

I used Birchwood Casy tru-oil for pens and reel seat inserts a decade ago and it's a nice finish, in the Danish oil category. The only problem with is the price and that it gels very quickly.

 

[Nate Hawkes]

The final look of regular and spar varnish is in how the wood is prepped and the finish applied - can look just as pretty as hardwax oil for much less $. The advantage of the thinned varnishes is penetration into the wood and physical strength of the cured varnish. Hardwax oils don’t achieve either one. No problem for good strong wood, but highly spalted or other weakened wood benefits from the penetration and addition of the physically stronger varnish contents.

This is what I'm looking for; something that penetrates well. There's a fine line between polyurethane thinned down and, "looks like plastic wood". I'm extremely picky. I have a quart left of the Minwax antique oil, but after that I'm probably going to try a danish oil or waterlox. I'm just bummed that everything available that's a hard curing varnish is twice the price of antique oil. I'm just not a fan of beeswax. It has its place, but I like my bowls to shine for a while longer than wax. I could add japan drier to antique oil and put a second coat on the same day. Minwax's Tung oil finish takes a few days to cure, which makes it a poor choice for me. I tend to turn a few bowls, then sand a few bowls, and finish a few bowls, all lumped together. It takes me a lot longer if I work one at a time.

 

[Doug Freeman]

This is what I'm looking for; something that penetrates well. There's a fine line between polyurethane thinned down and, "looks like plastic wood".

The thinned spar will penetrate through 1/4” walls with spalted wood. I flood it on, keep wet for ~ 30 min, let it just start to gel, then wipe/buff off. Takes practice initially. I use semigloss so negative grain isnt shiny, which creates the plastic look.

Minwax's Tung oil finish takes a few days to cure, which makes it a poor choice for me.

Haven’t used that product in 15-20 years. Back then it behaved just like thinned mw poly.

I tend to turn a few bowls, then sand a few bowls, and finish a few bowls, all lumped together.

I do the same, usually 4-6 pcs at a time.

 

[hughie]

I came across the history of Minwax products, which actually listed the 'how and the 'why', but its no longer available. I think if you dabble around with BLO, Urethane spar varnish and mineral spirits, you should get close to what you're after. Well that's what I am doing at present.

Found this, although it has less info than I thought.

About Minwax® Wood Finishing Products | Minwax®

Minwax® has a long line of history for our wood finishing products. Learn more about the history of Minwax® along with our company values here.

www.minwax.com

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Let us know how it goes would you?