Walnut Table Top Finishing Advice

[JungleJim]

Afternoon all,
I have been making a Walnut dining table and am now at the stage where i need to finish it. I have been reading on here and liberon finishing oil gets some good reviews and seems to be the desired look that I am going for. I will try it out on some offcuts first but was after some suggestions on how you would go about applying it, ie how many coats and and sanding between coats etc.

Cheers
Jim

 

[Trevanion]

I use the Osmo Top Oil myself, not sure how it would look on Walnut but I imagine no different than any other brand.

The surface is sanded down to 320 Grit and the first coat is applied with a brush and left to dry for at least 12 hours, I then de-nib the surface with 500 grit and apply a second coat with a cloth and repeat that step a few times to get the build up I want. It has a lovely satin look and feels good.

 

[ED65]

...seems to be the desired look that I am going for.

That's a good starting point, the next major consideration is what level of protection you'd like.

There's a checklist you can go through to help narrow down finishing choices, with the first two (in this order usually, but not always) being how you want the thing to look and the level of protection desired. Next are the application method you'd prefer, what maintenance schedule you'll accept and last but not least what you can afford and/or get easily. You can also throw in preferred drying times in there if you like.

I will try it out on some offcuts first but was after some suggestions on how you would go about applying it, ie how many coats and and sanding between coats etc.

If you decide to go with the Liberon stuff there's a surprising amount of possible variation in how you might go about applying it, depending again to some extent on the look you're going for and the level of protection you're after.

If you like the natural appearance of walnut you can just wipe in, wait a bit, wipe dry, rinse and repeat until you're happy.

For a partially filled look you can wet-sand the finish into the wood, then carefully wipe off (or squeegee off) across the grain to leave most of the wood/finish slurry in the grain, possibly a light sanding of the surface after waiting a suitable time for the slurry to harden off (often more than overnight), followed by continuing to oil as normal after that, with one, two or more coats.

As a general thing you don't need to sand between coats of any penetrating finish, and in fact doing so can be counterproductive (but sometimes it is necessary to lightly abrade the surface for best results). The product instructions say to lightly rub with 0000 steel wool between coats, which is a good gentler approach that won't see you taking a half step backwards as some sanding routines do. Liberon recommend a minimum of three coats.

 

[ED65]

Incidentally, from how I read the product blurb etc. it sounds very like it might be similar to a Danish oil, i.e. a mixture of oil and varnish, thinned with white spirit (in this case by at least 50%, and generously supplied with metallic driers to help speed drying time).

You can easily make up something similar yourself, starting with a varnish you already know and like and going from there.

Just thinned varnish (AKA wiping varnish) makes an excellent finish in its own right and can give a very similar in-the-wood result to 'finishing oils'/Danish oil and other similar mixtures, whilst providing better resistance to water. And if you add additional coats to build up some surface film you'll get increasing water resistance and much better resistance to scratching, but the finishing process will take significantly longer (at least a week).

Remember will all products of this type you have to wait for the oil component to fully cure for them to provide their peak protection. This is generally given as approximately 30 days but can take even longer in our climate.

 

[Yojevol]

I use the Osmo Top Oil myself, not sure how it would look on Walnut but I imagine no different than any other brand.

The surface is sanded down to 320 Grit and the first coat is applied with a brush and left to dry for at least 12 hours, I then de-nib the surface with 500 grit and apply a second coat with a cloth and repeat that step a few times to get the build up I want. It has a lovely satin look and feels good.

I've been on the learning curve with Osmo Top Oil recently - See my post 'A Table for Kate'
I purchased it from Rest Express near Cirencester (https://www.restexpress.co.uk). They advised sanding with no finer than 180grit for the first coat as the 'rough' surface encourages absorption into the surface. After that de-nibbing as and re-coating a few times has given a super finish and Kate reports good durability.
Brian

 

[JungleJim]

Thanks everyone, this is exactly the sort of thing that I'm after.
Trevanion, I havent seen the Osmo before. I may get some at some and apply some finish to some offcuts and play around with it a bit.

Cheers ED65 for your very detailed reply. thanks for the tip about not sanding back. I will try the wirewool between coats. I have ordered some of the Liberon finishing oil so before I let loose on the table will definitely run through the procress on an offcut. I've been making the table for ages so have no problem spending another few weeks trying out types of finish. Will post some pics of the progress.

Cheers

 

[Beau]

The instruction on the Liberon oil are pretty good. So you put it on generously and keep working it in. Think they advise to wipe of excess after 10 mins. This is where I deviate from the instructions. I will keep working it in for as long as it takes until it just starts to thicken ie dry. At this point I remove the excess. In hot weather this can be just a few mins and in cooler damper weather can take 15 or so. The oil will go further this way and you may manage to get the desired finish with less coats.