"Maloof" finish compared to Danish oil

[sunnybob]

MIke, now you just HAVE to send me some of that oak.
I love a challenge =D> =D> =D> 8)

 

[Steve Maskery]

.....subscribed......

To what?

My wardrobe.

 

[AJB Temple]

I have used bog oak numerous times for knife handles and it is the devils own job to get a gloss finish on it in my experience, without using a hard varnish (which I didn't want). Bog oak seems to be able to absorb finish for ever. I decided I really wanted a matt finish.....

 

[MikeG.]

MIke, now you just HAVE to send me some of that oak.
I love a challenge =D> =D> =D> 8)

I've got a pen-blank sized off cut, if that's any use to you. An off-cut of an off cut, if you like. I'm still not up to accessing my main pile, although my back is much better today.

 

[MikeG.]

Another thought - you might like Tru-oil. ........

Fifteen coats, according to this post!! Blimey, I'm not sure I'd ever have the patience for that.

 

[Doug B]

I have used bog oak numerous times for knife handles and it is the devils own job to get a gloss finish on it in my experience, without using a hard varnish (which I didn't want). Bog oak seems to be able to absorb finish for ever. I decided I really wanted a matt finish.....

Yep same here with the pens I’ve made from bog Oak, takes a lot of coats to raise a shine

 

[Droogs]

did you shellac first? been thinking about this today and onlyt thing I could think of was you hadn't mention sealing it with shellac

 

[sunnybob]

Mike, no lathe, so pen blanks are no good to me. If you have a piece thats knife handle sized though.....

 

[MikeG.]

Mike, no lathe, so pen blanks are no good to me. If you have a piece thats knife handle sized though.....

I have. I'll check it tomorrow to see if it is whole, as quite a bit of the smaller stuff is flawed.

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

This is as much of a shine as i was able to achieve (at short notice) on some small pieces of bog oak a couple of years ago.

The darkness seems to absorb the light!

Have you tried using a polishing mop or those hand drill buffing dome things?

 

[MikeG.]

did you shellac first? been thinking about this today and onlyt thing I could think of was you hadn't mention sealing it with shellac

No, I didn't. My thinking there was that I wanted the oil to penetrate to show off the grain, but great minds thinking alike and all that, I got some shellac out earlier and I'm going to test it on a scrap tomorrow.

 

[MikeG.]

......Have you tried using a polishing mop or those hand drill buffing dome things?

No, not yet. I'm still building up the layers, so it's had nothing other than a light buffing with a cotton rag.

 

[MikeG.]

I think people not familiar with bog oak are only aware of its black parts. However, as I described earlier it is the transition from black to a beautiful rich reddy brown which appeals to me the most, and the following pictures show this. These are scraps just passed over the planer and then wetted down with white spirit:

Even there, you can see how the brown stuff glows and the black stuff kills the light. Physics, I know........

And another saw I did showing a very flat finish with just a coat or two of oil:

 

[Steve Maskery]

That is a beautiful finish - go on, you have to tell us how you achieved it!

Edit - Sorry, not sure what went on there. That was aimed at sawdust=manglitter.

 

[ED65]

Sam Maloof's* 1/3 oil, 1/3 varnish, 1/3 white spirit mixture seems to my untrained eye to be a fair approximation of Danish oil (a mixture of oil, varnish and thinner + a few other bits 'n bobs).

That mix is pretty much a Danish oil, sans any additional driers.

Why is it then that advocates of Maloof's * method suggest leaving it 24 hours between coats, but Danish oil typically specifies 4 to 6 hours between coats?

A few factors. First might be that Maloof's actual recipe contains raw tung oil and that slows drying (Maloof's oil-varnish blend is a mix of equal parts poly, raw tung oil and BLO). Another is that Danish oils over there are often slower drying than over here, this despite the generally better drying conditions in the US.

Anyway never mind that, you're where you are now. Burnishing was what I was going to suggest, with the handle taken off the saw. I've yet to use any hard wood (any hard material actually) that won't burnish to at least a reasonable shine once any finish has had a chance to cure a bit (a couple of days if necessary, not the full cure time).

It does seem like there's something going on with the bog oak itself though that is actively interfering with the development of gloss, like something about its structure has changed so the wood itself is acting like a matting agent.

 

[MikeG.]

......It does seem like there's something going on with the bog oak itself though that is actively interfering with the development of gloss, like something about its structure has changed so the wood itself is acting like a matting agent.

I think it's a combination of high absorbancy and the deep matt black colour of the wood. I think I'm finally getting somewhere today, albeit I stuffed up yesterday's application by forgetting to wipe it off in time, so had to sand back a bit. I've upped the proportion of poly in the mi, too.

 

[Sawdust=manglitter]

That is a beautiful finish - go on, you have to tell us how you achieved it!

Edit - Sorry, not sure what went on there. That was aimed at sawdust=manglitter.

Apologies Steve, i completely missed your question!

I didnt have long to get it finished as i concentrated more on the functionality of the calendar, but from memory it would likely have been one coat of Rustins danish oil and a coat of Liberon clear paste wax buffed with a 2” diameter sheep skin polishing mop thingy on the end a drill. Probably not the most durable finish, but it’s still holding up well after a year or so of handling by my dad, so not too bad so far

 

[marcros]

I haven't read the whole thread, only scanned through.

Wasnt the "maloof mix" a 2 system mix. One part being as described, tung oil, white spirit and varnish. There is then a top coat mix which was heated and had beeswax melted in it, cooled slightly and is applied as a paste. It is a while since I mixed it up and used it, and there were endless versions online. I may even have mixed it mixed up with another recipe.

When I made it it was a pleasant finish to use. I seem to recall a couple of coats of the first finish and 1 of the top. It was fairly matt too, although did buff up quite nicely to what I wanted (I didn't want a high gloss though).

 

[marcros]

If I was making up another version, I may experiment with a different wax than beeswax.