Non-oily finish.

[DaWoodster]

The sample box was finished with some Liberon Finishing Oil I had handy.
SWMBO wants a less oily/smelly finish on the final boxes, but likes the dark unfinished vintage look.

The wood is American Black Walnut.

Any suggestions?

 

[thetyreman]

SWMBO?

I'd use de-waxed shellac

 

[DaWoodster]

She Who Must Be Obeyed.
Looking into Shellac, thanks for the suggestion.

 

[giantbeat]

osmo, blended oil/wax finish... quick to do, feels very natural when fully dry, brings out the grain.

 

[custard]

You need to go careful with this because you can really mess things up in the final straight.

An oil finish sounds just the job, except the smell will linger for a very very long time in a closed box and can be pretty stomach turning. If you can leave the box open for about ten days then the Osmo smell will dissipate, and that's by far the fastest I've found. Other oil or oil/varnish finishes might take many months. I almost never use them on the inside of cabinets for just this reason, although if it's a long build I might use Osmo provided cab doors and backs are left off for the duration of the build to let it fully harden off.

Shellac sanding sealer or a basic rubber of a well cut shellac is a simple option. The warm tone of the darker shellacs goes great with ABW. No smell after a few hours. The more coats you apply the glossier the result. Providing you don't need dead flat matt this may be your best option.

If you're just going to finish the outside you need to protect the internal/external edges with masking tape or the finish will bleed over and look messy, as you've got quite a few boxes to do that's a major faff.

Good luck!

 

[DaWoodster]

Stink free is a priority here, but it needs to be a matt finish too!
Could I knock the shine off a shellac with a fine wire wool?

 

[ED65]

Yep, you can most definitely knock the shine back with steel wool. But with a thin application you won't have much shine to worry about.

 

[custard]

Stink free is a priority here, but it needs to be a matt finish too!
Could I knock the shine off a shellac with a fine wire wool?

Yes, wire wool will matt it off. But unless your splines are dead flush the wire wool will catch and abrade more on the tiny arrises plus they'll leave stray whiskers. 3M do some nice abrasive pads that don't have those problems.

Good luck!

 

[DaWoodster]

Ok, so down the shellac rabbit hole we go...

any usable premixed products?
are there only blonde and orange in dewaxed flake?

What would be the best type for ABW?

 

[custard]

Orange, and cut it 50% in meths...by which time you might as well have mixed up your own fresh with garnett or button shellac flakes!

 

[ED65]

If you're having to buy it in I wouldn't bother myself. Shellac is great stuff to have on hand but wiping on a thinned coat of varnish will do much the same for you. The smell will dissipate in only about 1-2 weeks, less if you use OMS instead of regular white spirit.

If you use just oil there'll be a residual odour but it shouldn't be at all intrusive. I use a thinned mixture of walnut oil to pop the grain sometimes before applying shellac and there's practically no odour by only the following morning, just a few days will see that reduced even further. But the smell isn't at all unpleasant. Edit: and the wood of course doesn't feel oily because you wipe away ALL the excess.

 

[custard]

The smell will dissipate in only about 1-2 weeks

Not in a closed box it won't.

 

[ED65]

Yes I meant open to the air as already recommended by your good self.

No smell will easily dissipate in a closed box, this is the principle behind cedar-lined chests after all. Obviously it can be detrimental too, we had some cabinets in my family home that I swear still smelled faintly of something (the laminate glue?) decades after they were completed :shock:

 

[YorkshireMartin]

3M do some nice abrasive pads that don't have those problems

You don't happen to have a product code do you? I know the stuff you mean but locating genuine 3m stuff hasn't been easy and the cheaper stuff I'm wary of.

As happened to someone the other week, a green pan scrub is NOT the same thing! lol

 

[custard]

Hello Martin, I'll see if I can dig it out in the workshop tomorrow. I use the 3M pads where steel wool might bring problems,

-pale timbers where the steel wool dust can get into joints or glue lines and look horrible
-timbers with tannin, where stray strands can stain the wood black
-waney edged slab top furniture where the whiskers get snagged in the wane.

 

[custard]

Hello Martin, my mistake, it's Mirka not 3M. The steel wool 0000 equivalent is their dark grey "ultra fine" sheets.

PM me with your address and I'll send you half a sheet so you can try it out. It's more expensive than 0000 steel wool (although it lasts much longer), so I only use it when I'm trying to avoid a particular negative of steel wool.

 

[DaWoodster]

Shellac was the perfect finish, quick and stink free, thanks for the advice!

Images here: https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/box-1-t99757-15.html