Danish oil on box

[mickthetree]

Hi All

I was thinking about getting some tung oil to use on this oak box I have made. Not tried it before. I've tried shellac and wax oil and wax and like them both. I have some oak offcuts that I have used Danish oil on which has looked quite nice too.

Still need to cut those brass rods to length

My concern is would the inside of the box smell strongly of the tung or danish oil when the lid is closed for periods of time? Or should I stick to the shellac and wax finish? I'm hoping the oil would give a richer lustre. The last couple of oak boxes I've made looked nice, but a little too dull.

I like the sort of finish James Krenov used, not that I'm comparing my work to his :lol: :lol: Not sure what he used though.

 

[AndyT]

I'll be interested in the answers to this one. I've used Danish oil quite a lot but never tung oil.
A friend gave me some offcuts of beech stave worktop and I thought I would use tung oil on it as a chopping board.

I did the first two coats with the oil diluted with white spirit as directed on the tin. That was several weeks ago. Since then I have given it a layer of tung oil whenever I walk past it and have a few minutes; I brush it on, wait an hour, wipe off the excess and wait. It seems to take a minimum of two days to dry despite being in a very well ventilated room. I've lost count of the coats now - probably four or five - and it's still patchy. Some parts look bare, some have a surprisingly plasticy looking sheen to them. I've been using a foam brush and it's still soft just sitting in a shallow dish of oil.

Is it always this difficult and slow to apply tung oil?

In contrast, while this job remains unfinished, I made a quick and easy box for a Stanley 55 which I just gave two coats of shellac sanding sealer, and that looks fine!

Nice tidy box btw, it needs the right finish!

 

[mickthetree]

Cheers Andy
I thought about boiled linseed oil as well. Not tried that either.

 

[AndyT]

Boiled linseed oil is cheap and easy to use in my experience - I've mostly used it on old, dried up planes. Worth trying on an offcut, I think. It soaks in quite a bit but the second or later coats can be buffed up quite nicely giving a gentle sheen. Also very easy to rejuvenate over the years.

 

[mickthetree]

Does BLO smell much?

 

[AndyT]

Does BLO smell much?

I've just been and sniffed the top of my bench (!!) which I oiled a few months ago, and yes, there is a faint but not unpleasant odour. I think you are right to be careful on what you put on the inside of a box where the smell could be noticeable when you open it, or even taint the contents. I've used diluted polyurethane on the inside of cupboards in the past (which actually looked ok) and that's pretty much inert when cured but I don't expect you would want to use it on your box. I expect shellac or Danish would be ok but I'm really not sure - wait for someone who has done it!

 

[Tim_H]

I have used Danish oil on a box I made recently and then waxed and buffed it which which gives it not only a lovely sheen but leaves it smelling of honey.

I cannot comment on how durable this is!

 

[mickthetree]

I've been experimenting with all the finishes I have on some offcuts of the oak. I'll take some pics over the weekend.

Where the oak has open grain the oils seem to pool slightly in them. I can remove most of it when I knock it back, but maybe I'm putting it on too thick. It is happening on the finishing oil more, but it is quite an old bottle.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Generally speaking it's best to avoid using oil finishes on the inside of enclosed furniture items because the smell is very unpleasant -- think sweaty socks. The worst smelling are pure tung oil and linseed oil, either raw or boiled. Oil based varnish and Danish oil aren't quite so bad, but they're still generally unpleasant.

I suspect you would just about get away with it on your small lidded box, but if you were to do a large cabinet with doors and drawers the unpleasant smell would be quite to very strong. The cause of the smell seems to be related to the fumes trapped within the cabinet. I'm not sure of the exact chemical mechanism and the way the fume molecules react with whatever else is within the cabinet's interior.

Anyway, even with your small box I would instantly dismiss applying an oil finish of any sort on the interior parts for the reasons discussed briefly above. If I wanted some sort of protective film finish the most likely polish I'd apply would be shellac, or a sprayed lacquer, eg, pre-cat. There are other less protective options that come with their own characteristics, eg, wax, which can transfer to stored items, or lemon oil that loses its smell very quickly, and unfinished bare wood that provides no protection against spillages, eg, leaking pens, etc. Slainte.

 

[mickthetree]

Hi Richard

Thanks for the info.

I have now built up a few coats on my off cuts. The Liberon Danish oil and finishing oil are both looking good. Especially the finishing oil., but I had a type of finish in mind. A sort of soft looking matt finish that encourages the hand to touch it, rather than the sheen that has developed which makes you want to look at it, but not touch. Maybe I'm just not using them right! The finishing oil is certainly less smelly than the danish oil.

The shellac with chestnut 22 wood wax over it looks good, but still not quite what I was after.

I have an off cut with only the beeswax polish I made on which looks nice and feels well protected. Bit too shiny, but I can knock it back for a more matt look.

Maybe lemon or orange oil may do this.

I think I have some testers of Osmo Polyx somewhere. I'll see if I can test those as well.