Thread: Finishing Question

The hard shellac is dewaxed so it should stick pretty well. Just be gentle with your sanding - it's easy to break through to the substrate if you're using a powered sander!

Originally Posted by PFH

Just be gentle with your sanding - it's easy to break through to the substrate if you're using a powered sander!

And hope that the veneer isn't saturated with the oil already :/

I just bought some hard shellac and I think it mentioned the possibility of cracking if applied over other finishes

Originally Posted by PFH

The hard shellac is dewaxed so it should stick pretty well. Just be gentle with your sanding - it's easy to break through to the substrate if you're using a powered sander!

Yes . definitely no power sander on this. First real attempt at veneer too.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

And hope that the veneer isn't saturated with the oil already :/

Hadn't thought of that Elan. I guess wait for it to completely dry after sanding. It has been nearly 2 weeks already (just spent past week and half in bed with a serious cold/chest infection, that slowed me down)

Does it make sense that something like Danish Oil does have a use by date and go off?

Originally Posted by Bendigo Bob

Hadn't thought of that Elan. I guess wait for it to completely dry after sanding. It has been nearly 2 weeks already (just spent past week and half in bed with a serious cold/chest infection, that slowed me down)

The problem with oil is that it's a penetrating finish that gets absorbed by the timber, as opposed to surface finishes, like wax or poly, that just sit on top. I don't have much experience with finishing, but my gut feel is that it's basically impossible to completely remove oil from veneer (especially 4 coats after sitting for so long), hopefully the shellac will still work.

Does it make sense that something like Danish Oil does have a use by date and go off?

Makes sense to me; if fully synthetic finishes go off, surely organic ones would too.

Danish oil is a bit of a different beast - it's not just oil and usually has got some kind of varnish/polyurethane component to it. As long as it's not ridiculously thick then I think it will eventually set. I had problems with old polyurethane tins in the past, which had heavily skinned on top and didn't seem to want to set... but they eventually did as long as the coat wasn't too thick. Don't recommend it for anything important!

Thinking more about it, If it feels gunky, I would try using a well honed cabinet scraper to remove the old surface layer (may be easier than sanding if it's sticky), then wait a few weeks to make sure the remainder is hardened. Then you can give a light sand then give it a go with the shellac. No guarantees but I think that will give you the best shot.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

... Makes sense to me; if fully synthetic finishes go off, surely organic ones would too.

Absolutely, depending on which brand you chose, there are essentially two recipes for "Danish Oil":

• roughly equal parts of 'traditional varnish', boiled linseed oil and turpentine, and
• roughly equal parts of polyurethane, boiled linseed oil and turpentine.

Easy to make your own - mix, stir, use.