Thread: Watco

If I were going to try to make my own, I would mix turps and boiled linseed oil. Watco Danish oil doesn't have any varnish in it. Otherwise the finish would stay on the surface of the wood, rather than soaking inside the cells of the wood...
The more oil used in the mixture - the slower the curing times. The more thinner used in the mixture, the quicker the curing time.
I would start out with about 35- 40% oil, and 60-65% thinner, and test it on some scrap timber, to see if I was getting what I wanted.
If I was guessing, I'd say closer to the 65/35 mixture would be better.
You could use different thinners... to save the stink of turps.

Originally Posted by Allen Neighbors

If I were going to try to make my own, I would mix turps and boiled linseed oil. Watco Danish oil doesn't have any varnish in it.

If it doesn't have a varnish in it, can it still be called Danish Oil?

Don't know the Watco but Brendan recently posted a link to a home-made recipe that you could vary acc to need. Similar to Al's but with the addition of some poly.

Start with 1 part each of BLO, turps and poly. Can use White Spirits instead of turps - dunno what it's called over your way.

Snap!

DO as a term seems to cover a multitude of concoctions.

Originally Posted by brendan stemp

If it doesn't have a varnish in it, can it still be called Danish Oil?

............or if it does have varnish in it could you still call it Danish Oil?

Brendan, it is called Danish Oil... but I believe it is far removed from the original finish... and it really doesn't have Varnish in it.

http://watco.net/cbgimages/documents...Guide_2009.pdf

Originally Posted by Gil Jones

http://watco.net/cbgimages/documents...Guide_2009.pdf

I stand corrected... I've been mislead for years. It does have a little varnish in it, though I don't know what kind... Thanks for the awakening, Gil.

Hey, Al,
I did not know what Watco Oil was made of either until I looked it up while reading this thread. I just assumed it was a thinned down oil-based varnish or poly. Never the less I use it, and like it. Very likely we could mix Varnish or Poly/BLO/and mineral spirits to come up with a similar, though cheaper, product (Maybe a touch of Japan Drier to hasten the curing process).
Gil

Yep, Russ, over on the WC forum, says equal parts of BLO, Varnish, Turps/Mineral spirits, will make a good home version of Danish Oil. I had read his column a few years ago, and got his ideas mixed in with some other stuff; that's why I was adamant about it not having varnish... something about the varnish laying on top, and not soaking in. Could be why my home brews didn't work... no varnish in it. And it could be that because I've slept since then, I've just lost it... somewhere in those foggy corners of my mind.
I've tried it mixing my own, and I think that it worked better with very little varnish mixed in. I still haven't gotten a mix that I like as well as the original Watco Danish Oil. That could be the reason why???
I just ordered a couple of gallons of DO through a supplier here in town. Got a good deal on it, and will use it 'til it's gone... and during some lulls in the turning days, I'll keep mixing small amounts of my own stuff 'til I come up with something I like as much. Or, I'll just re-order Watco, til they change it or stop making it.