Maple and Walnut

[Baldhead]

I'm making a jewelry box in Maple and Walnut, I want the Walnut to look dark so I'm thinking of an oil finish, but I don't want the Maple to turn yellow which I think it will with oil?
If I apply some shellac first to both the Maple and Walnut will it be ok to oil on top or would shellac and wax give a better finish.

Baldhead

 

[marcros]

You can't put oil on top of shellac.

Any chance of pre-oiling the walnut before assembly? Any oil will yellow the maple to some degree.

 

[Baldhead]

It's not glued yet so I can oil the Walnut, can I then wax ontop of the oil?

Baldhead

 

[marcros]

Yes, or oil the walnut, assemble and shellac everything together. Wax on top of that is optional. Just don't oil under glue surfaces, or use liquid hide glue and it doesn't matter. A hard wax oil or shellac would seal the wood for waxing- oil alone will depend on type.

They also say not to oil inside a box or drawer because of the lack of air circulation.

My favourite finish for walnut is truoil.

 

[Baldhead]

Thanks marcros, it's a good thing I asked before I glued up the box. I suppose it's obvious, you can't oil ontop of shellac because shellac seals the wood so the oil wouldn't soak in!
Because of the design (not mine) I will oil the Walnut (making sure none gets into the joints) apply shellac to the Maple and Walnut, then glue the box up before Several coats of Briwax.

Baldhead

 

[Kalimna]

Mark - does the advice re:not oiling the inside of boxes extend to all oils? Of the few boxes I've made I have put a thin coat of lemon oil inside, for the aroma as much as anything.

Cheers,
Adam

 

[marcros]

I think it is dependant on the oil- Danish is a definite no no because of the smell but lemon oil is (I would imagine) a bit more friendly. I keep meaning to get a bottle because it isn't as yellowing as some on projects that I have seen. I have never used it though.

 

[Baldhead]

Lemon oil is used by some members in the scrollsaw section, maybe they have some experience of using it inside of drawers.

Baldhead

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Lemon oil is used by some members in the scrollsaw section, maybe they have some experience of using it inside of drawers.

Lemon oil is fine, although it doesn't offer the greatest long term protection against abrasion, knocks and water vapour ingress/ egress, which probably isn't of great importance used on internal parts of drawers and the like. The smell does fade of course, and not everyone likes it, including me, but that's just a personal preference.

Avoid using pure tung oil or boiled or raw linseed oil in enclosed places because they tend to smell unpleasant (sweaty sock is how I describe it), which can even linger for years, not just a few weeks or months. The unpleasantness of the smell is, in my experience, largely in proportion to the enclosed surface area, i.e., not bad really used inside a small box, but it can become pretty unpleasant used inside a large cabinet enclosed behind doors, and perhaps compounded by things like internal drawers or sub-cabinets. Similarly, and for the same reasons, although the unpleasant smell does diminish over a reasonable period of time, I avoid using oil based varnishes on cabinet interiors, e.g., Danish oil, polyurethane varnish, etc. Slainte.

 

[mouppe]

I would pad on several layers of blond shellac followed by wax.

The walnut will darken over time too.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

The walnut will darken over time too.

There's nothing wrong with your suggestion for polishing, but I wonder if you've inadvertently switched the effect that UV rays and oxidation have on walnut. Rather than darken over time, walnuts in general tend to fade moving towards honey tones. The changes are rather well demonstrated through observation of such things as walnut cabinets, e.g., the interior will still be quite dark whereas after even just two or three years the exterior parts most affected by UV rays and oxidation usually show fairly strong evidence of fading and colour change. Slainte.

 

[mouppe]

The walnut will darken over time too.

There's nothing wrong with your suggestion for polishing, but I wonder if you've inadvertently switched the effect that UV rays and oxidation have on walnut. Rather than darken over time, walnuts in general tend to fade moving towards honey tones. The changes are rather well demonstrated through observation of such things as walnut cabinets, e.g., the interior will still be quite dark whereas after even just two or three years the exterior parts most affected by UV rays and oxidation usually show fairly strong evidence of fading and colour change. Slainte.

Oh gosh, you're right. I was mixed up (I've been working with cherry recently which does darken over time!). And the colour change can be very quick. I remember I had some walnut boards that were stacked in the workshop, and you could clearly see where the lower planks were sticking out by the two-tone effect after just a few weeks.

Thanks for setting me straight.

 

[Tetsuaiga]

Isn't tung oil meant to be non-yellowing or very little yellowing?

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Isn't tung oil meant to be non-yellowing or very little yellowing?

Its tendency to darken the wood it's applied to is not as pronounced as products containing linseed oil, or just linseed oil itself, but in my experience it's not too far behind. Slainte.