Thread: Table top finish

I'm sorry to say, but both options are wrong. :eek:
You can't put Estapol on it and then expect the danish oil to do anything except sit on the top of that. You need to get some danish Oil and have a good read of the instructions. Apply it to the raw table if danish oil is the finish you want. Follow the instructions carefully, especially about wiping off the excess within an hour of coating. It will take a few coats , but will come up well. It has a degree of poly in it anyway, for extra hardness and protection. Also, visit the Ubeaut site (www.ubeaut.com.au) and check out the hard shellac. If you want a glossy finish, it is ideal, especially after a rub with EEE paste. Maybe get a copy of Neil's Polisher's handbook as well. It's also on the site and their internet ordering and delivery system is first rate.

Another option would be Organ Oil's, hard burnishing oil.

On a recent visit to a fine furniture maker, I saw some fantastic solid timber tables which he always finished with Danish Oil - about 5-6 coats. (No Estapol !!!) :eek:

Lastly, make sure you sand well and go through the grades gradually. You should go to at least 400 grit using a good ROS or similar. No matter how good the finish, if the sanding is rough you'll never get it done properly.

Originally Posted by Gumby

Also, visit the Ubeaut site (www.ubeaut.com.au) and check out the hard shellac. If you want a glossy finish, it is ideal, especially after a rub with EEE paste. Maybe get a copy of Neil's Polisher's handbook as well. It's also on the site and their internet ordering and delivery system is first rate.

OK Gumby, you have earned your spotters fee this week

How durable a finish do you want? If you want maximum protection I would suggest using Marine Spar finish (I used Feast Watson) and rub it on. It takes a lot of coats buts the results are worth it.

For the first few coats, thin the polyurethane about 25% with turps. Pour a little on a lint-free cloth and rub it into the surface. Let it dry and repeat a couple of times, sanding with 400 grit wet and dry between layers. Make sure you clean before the next finish with a tack cloth.

For the remainder of the coats, make a pad of material and pour enough of the finish onto the pad to get it wet. Then wrap this pad in lint-free material so that the finish from the pad inside soaks through. Wipe this on, recharging the interiod pad as required. (This is just like French polishing).

This will result in a smooth finish and will be quite durable. I have used it on a blackwood desk and it has come up very nice - and you don't have to worry about brush marks and drips that you didn't notice. The only downside is that it is not quick - probably about 10 coats are needed but this depends on how much finish you want. If you don't like a gloss finish, you could rub on a satin polyurethane as the last coat.

There's a product at Bunnings called Wipe-On poly by Minwax. (see www.minwax.com) It's easy to apply, dries quickly and like starr says, by wiping it on, you get a nice smooth finish without the brush strokes. Good alternative if you don't go the Danish oil path.

Originally Posted by Gumby

There's a product at Bunnings called Wipe-On poly by Minwax. (see www.minwax.com) It's easy to apply, dries quickly and like starr says, by wiping it on, you get a nice smooth finish without the brush strokes. Good alternative if you don't go the Danish oil path.

That sound like a good suggestion, Gumby, I'll have to try it!

Originally Posted by DPB

That sound like a good suggestion, Gumby, I'll have to try it!

Yeah Don, I'm full of good ideas (lucky for me they aren't copywrite ! )

Goodness me I have done the wrong thing again. 25 years ago I built a black bean dining table and applied two coats of matt finish single pack estapol and rubbed danish finishing oil into the estapol with 0000 steel wool. We are still using that table and it has never had blankets, glass or any other covering except a table cloth during meals. It has with stood the ravages of two kids, one grand kid, plus who knows how many glasses of various beers and spirits during that time. My wife maintains the surface with a bi-weekly wipe down with marveer or o-cedar oil. The surface has numerous dings and scratches but still looks acceptable for its age. I have used this same finish on many commissioned pieces of furniture with horizontal working surface, and had no complaints.
Jim

Jim, it's withstood the wear because you put on some estapol first. Not necessarily because of the oil. Why not put the oil on the raw timber first, like it's meant to be done? It can then penetrate properly. You can put Danish oil on previously varnished surfaces but it certainly isn't ideal. That's the point.
maybe you should read this :
http://www.rustins.co.uk/Dano.html

Johns finish has withstood the test of time which proves his process is successful.
So why change the recipe at all????????????

because it does'nt mean that the danish oil part of it is actually doing anything. It's probably been gone for years, maybe even from the first rub with a soft cloth, and the estapol is the finish, which I agree is durable. If you want an estapol fininsh, fine , I have no argument. It's simply that, on a new piece of raw timber, why not put danish oil on FIRST ? And why not just use danish oil without adding estapol or something similar. If you want to put estapol on after that, then again, fine - no argument. I just don't see the point in reversing the procedure.

Originally Posted by Gumby

because it does'nt mean that the danish oil part of it is actually doing anything. It's probably been gone for years, maybe even from the first rub with a soft cloth, and the estapol is the finish, which I agree is durable.

Gumby is right. The Estapol is the finish and the oil is a waste of time as it will not penetrate through the Estapol but oxidize on top of it.

We had the same. The bedroom suite was lovingly oiled by my wife for about 30 years untill I restored and french polished it last year. We found out that it had a laquer surface and all the oiling over the years was a waste of time and effort as all it did was dull the surface more and more over the years. But as it was progressively it was never noticed that to keep a reasonable surface oiling had to be done more and more frequently.

It would have been better to put a hard paste wax over the lacquer surface instead of the oil.


Peter.

Originally Posted by powderpost

Goodness me I have done the wrong thing again. 25 years ago I built a black bean dining table and applied two coats of matt finish single pack estapol and rubbed danish finishing oil into the estapol with 0000 steel wool.

Jim that's just how we did it when we didn't know any better!

There's an age-old adage that says "what you don't know won't hurt you" and I guess that's why we succeeded where so few many have feared to go!

That was certainly how the "Danish" did the Danish oil treatment then, I think the theory was (is?) that the first two light coats did the sealing (which polymerised oil will do anyway, it just takes five coats to get to the same point).

There's no doubt that the oil did adhere to the polyu, and gave a similar finish to a pure ten coat Danish finish... perhaps the doubters should try??

I have a two gables of pine stuff in my workshop which I happened to be looking at this morning in fact, one with the Danish only treatment and one with poly/danish both five years old (I ran out of Poly half way through!) and the Danish only looks hungry and needs work, the poly undercoated one is hungry too, but looks four years newer!

Try it you doubters you!!

Cheers,

P

All the posts are interesting. I remember my mother on her hands and knees hand rubbing Jonsons floor wax on an unsanded floor. It took years to produce a shine. The system I use on table tops is taken straight from the side of the danish oil tin. I reckon they might know more than I do. The oil I rub in liberally and hard with 0000 steel wool, until the surface is fairly dry. I then wipe it over with a cloth moistened with O-Cedar oil. I have no way of determining if it oxidises or penetrates the polyurethane or not, but it certainly produces a beautiful tactile surface. If I rub oil into the wood for a 'superior' finish, like my mother, it would take many coats to create a nice finish. In the mean time we eat off a box. An old french polisher told me that a reasonable oil finish can be had by.... rubbing oil once a day for a week with a clay brick wrapped in a piece of blanket, then once a week for a month, once a month for a year then on your birthday. A true oil finish is without doubt a beautiful finish, but todays materials make achieving a similar finish much easier. It is like shellac or hide glue when there are better products available. As a point of interest I still use both now when it is appropriate
Jim