Finishes for Turned Bowls

[UpstartThread97]

Hi - I have been turning for a while but am a relative newcomer/dunce when it comes to applied finishes; my question is this:
I have an elm bowl which I originally just sanded and then applied 2 coats of Danish Oil. I now want to put a decent shine on it, which I would normally do by sanding, applying sanding sealer, then a suitable wax followed by buffing. Question is, can I still apply sanding sealer even though the wood has been oiled (some time ago)? I assume that if I don't seal it then the wax will simply disappear into wood unless I build it up substantially.
Any printable suggestions welcomed.

 

[Dalboy]

The problem with oil is that it soaks in so applying any finish may be a problem. The thing that you can do is use a high gloss wax over the oil and then buff. This would be better with a buffing system of some sort

 

[KimG]

having used Oil as Derek says, will prevent or cause issues with sealers (sanding sealer should always be the first thing you apply when finishing) However, there is an alternative solution to Derek's suggestion, and that is to use a hard wax oil, this will give a hard and glossy finish although you need to be patient with it and give it plenty of time to dry and harden, then you can buff it to a fine gloss (if you have buffing wheels etc) Chestnut products do a modest size can of hardwax oil, I have even used it in the past to coat coloured items.

 

[UpstartThread97]

having used Oil as Derek says, will prevent or cause issues with sealers (sanding sealer should always be the first thing you apply when finishing) However, there is an alternative solution to Derek's suggestion, and that is to use a hard wax oil, this will give a hard and glossy finish although you need to be patient with it and give it plenty of time to dry and harden, then you can buff it to a fine gloss (if you have buffing wheels etc) Chestnut products do a modest size can of hardwax oil, I have even used it in the past to coat coloured items.

Many thanks to all/both. I will obtain the necessary Chestnut stuff and try it. I have plenty of buffing wheels, mops etc.

 

[Yorkieguy]

It's worth bearing in mind that Danish Oil doesn't just soak into timber and 'dry' - it goes through a chemical change and polymerises when it reacts with oxygen. That's why it's important to allow each coat of oil to fully dry and polymerise ('cure'). rather than be tempted to slap on subsequent coats too soon. Once it's hardened off, if sanded - say to 400g - there ought not to be a problem in applying other finishes. I'm secretary of a wood-turning club where we have (or rather did have till March) a programme of professional demonstrators each month. Almost without exception, if they want to provide a durable (and food-safe) 'toffee apple' finish, after one coat of cellulose sanding sealer (for speed of drying compared to shellac), they apply two or three coats of clear gloss aerosol acrylic car lacquer. For polishing, these days 'Yorkshire Grit' and 'Hampshire Sheen' with micro-crystalline wax seem to be very much the order of the day.

As to what Danish Oil is, there’s no industry standard ‘recipe’ for the ingredients and formulations for so-called “Danish Oil.” The main ingredients are drying oils such as linseed oil (extracted from the seeds of flax), tung oil or modified soya oil, blended with solvents (mineral spirits, naptha, turpentine, citrus oil, etc.), and varnish (alkyd, phenolic, or polyurethane, etc.).

The actual ingredients may, and probably do, vary widely among manufacturers. But whatever the brand, most makers will state that it dries to a satin sheen – not gloss. The higher the proportion of tung oil as compared to linseed oil, the glossier the finish is likely to be. Some brands (Liberon for example), state that the main ingredient in their Danish oil is tung oil, and state that the finish is ‘satin to gloss’.

Hope that's of interest.

 

[Droogs]

I tend to use this as my food safe finish

https://generalfinishes.com/wood-finishes-retail/oil-based-topcoats/oil-based-wood-bowl-finish

 

[Nelly111s]

Chestnut products do a good chart of "what finish goes over what base", here https://chestnutproducts.co.uk/wp-c...nut-Products-Compatibility-Chart-Coloured.pdf which is a useful reference for this sort of question.