Oiled gloss finish on Bubinga

[Vikash]

Hi, I've applied three coats of Liberon Finishing Oil to a large coffee table, brushed on and left for 10 minutes, then wiped off with a cloth. I plan on applying another two coats at least, but I would like to end up with a gloss finish if possible. What is the best/easiest way to achiev this?

Should I finish the five coats then wet sand and finish with one final coat? I have some 3M 2000 grit laying around, a buffing machine, and some Farecla G3 compound although I'm not sure if it's any good for oil finishes?

V

 

[Chris Knight]

Finishing oil is not a great route to a gloss finish. You will need about 8 or 9 coats to get a gloss.

A better route would have been to use BLO to "pop" the grain, then use a gloss finish of some sort - a traditional or polyurethane varnish for example.

 

[Vikash]

Well I'd settle for an even finish at the moment. I've got a lot of bleed back which has now hardened. What's the best method of removing it, or is it a case of sanding the whole table down?

 

[Chris Knight]

You should be able to remove the bleed with a scraper quite easily. I wouldn't use sandpaper on it until you have removed all trace of lumps/ridges etc. with a scraper. Then sand it lightly with 180 grit. Brush/vacuum it clean and start oiling again.

Plainly from the bleed you have already experienced, you will have to spend longer wiping away excess after applying it - this can go on for 20 minutes to half an hour That is a wipe off, then reinspect in a few minutes and repeat etc.

I suggest you apply the oil with a rag. A brush simply puts on too much, especially after the first coat when the wood accepts less and less.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

Vikash, I'm not particularly familiar with Liberon's finishing products so I went and had a look at their website. They describe their Liberon Finishing Oil here, http://www.liberon.co.uk/gallery_files/ ... /11166.pdf

The important things to note are the 'oils' they declare are in their product and how to clean up afterwards. As is the case with most finish manufacturers they're purposely vague about the oils, but it's a 99% certainty that they're either using linseed oil and/or tung oil. They don't mention it but I wouldn't be surprised to discover there are some undefined 'resins' in the mix, ie, alkyd, polyurethane, etc. Clean up you'll note is with 'white spirit'.

Picking through the usual manufacturer's obfuscation what you've been slapping on to your table is likely a version of an oil based varnish. And if there are actually no 'resins' in this mix then the ingredients of tung oil or linseed oil and white spirits are what go into any regular oil based varnish.

One very workable solution to get your glossy end result is to rub down lightly what you've already got with a bit of something like 320 or 400 grit abrasive paper and apply a couple of coats of an oil based gloss interior polyurethane varnish. The finish will almost certainly be a lot tougher than the Liberon Finishing Oil alone.

If you decide to go on this route it's always a good idea to replicate your existing finish on a piece of scrap, and follow up with a couple of coats of your chosen varnish. This will give you the chance to make sure there aren't any compatibility problems. Slainte.