Suggestions for Walnut Finish

[Burt Alcantara]

A couple of years ago a neighbor gave me a few walnut logs. They had been sitting in her yard for years. Each log exploded when I roughed it. The wood was just too dry and brittle. I managed to get a large round from one and stuck it in a corner.

Yesterday, I finally got it turned and it's kinda decent. I'd like a finish to bring out the grain and give a good color. Something luscious. I never finished walnut and this is the only piece I have -- no test pieces. I'm sure she's forgotten all of this but I'd love to see the expression on her face when I give her this bowl.

I'm open to suggestions,
Burt

[Mark Norman]

Where's the pics?? a nice gloss finish or just oiled and buffed may work depending on the piece.

[RickT Harding]

My fav is a couple of coats of BLO, followed by a pair of dewaxed shellac, and finished with Arm-R-Seal until happy with the thickness.

Now that's for furniture. If this is to be an bowl with food/etc? Then a different route for sure.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Depends on what you want Burt. If for food I use any of the following: Walnut Oil (Mike Mahoney's), Antique Oil or General Finishes Sea-A-Cell followed by Arm-R-Seal. If is decorative I use Gloss Wipe on Poly or Gloss Waterlox. If I want walnut to darken I will use one coat AO followed by Wipe on Poly after the AO has dried a week. Waterlox will darken it some but is a nice hard finish. I have some that want the walnut dark almost black.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I like Tung oils. It seems to me that Tung oil brings out the warmth and glow especially in dark woods like walnut and koa. Not easy to use, but I like it.

Most people here seem to like Watco, BLO and polys. I use them too, but if you want to do something "special", then go against the grain. Try it on a scrap piece that you blew up. Of course, this is just my opinion.

[Marc Himes]

For a glossy finish I like to use Americans Salad Bowl Finish; usually about three coats with steal wool in between. Satin Wipe on Poly or walnut oil, applied heavy and reapplied after about 3-4 days for a matt finish.

Marc Himes

[Jeff Nicol]

Burt, Anty of the oil finishes will give you depth and bring out the grain. A couple coats of tung oil finish, danish oil, antigue oil or a combination oil,varnish and wax combo will work well also. The food grade issue is really something that has been beat to death, but it will all be food safe after about a month, the things with oil soak in to the wood deeper and the lacquers, poly's, varnishes and shellac will make a film that can flake off over time if you use steel utensils and scratch the finish. So for me to get that glowing deep lusterous finish the oils 3-4 coats and let dry for a good week buffed out with some carnuba applied last will give you a great warm to the touch beautiful finish.

Have fun,

Jeff

[Cody Colston]

I concur with Jeff. It sounds like this will be a keepsake piece and will probably not get much handling. A hand-rubbed oil finish will really give it a soft shine.

If you Beall buff, don't use the White Diamond as the white residue will lodge in the wood pores and be visible against the dark Walnut. A Carnauba wax buff would look good after the oil has cured but just the oil by itself will look great, too.

[Burt Alcantara]

Since many have suggested oil, I looked up a "recipe" in Jeff Jewitt's "Finishing" book. He suggested equal parts of tung oil and mineral spirits. I did the first coat last night. Looks spectacular already. Today, I will give a second coat applied with 600 grit wet/dry to fill the pores. I'm going to take all the time needed to finish this one. So far, I'm thinking I'll stay with just oil.

Thanks guys,
Burt

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Awesome! Tung oil is a really nice finish, but, if you're going to sand to fill pores, you should do that on the first coat. The object is to get the wood dust to mix with the oil to form a slurry. Not to worry. Let the oil dry and sand with no oil to try to get back down to the wood. Then do your wet sand. IMO you can never sand too much. The first coat is the most critical, and I think you should sand most of it off to get the smoothest finish possible. I love tung oil. Another trick is to save the dust from sanding and mix it in.

One final thing, buy a quality wet sandpaper. I've used cheap wet paper (*-mart) that loses the grit as you sand. It discolored the wood. Once stained, you will never get it out. May not matter on a dark wood like walnut, but really a bummer on maple.

[Burt Alcantara]

I discovered the wet sanding after I did the first coat. What grit did you use?

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I use 600, but just about any grit over 400 will work. 600 is just leftovers from my auto body junk. I did try 8000, but it really is not aggressive enough to take any wood off. (More auto leftovers.)
More often now I just save some dust, or sand just before I dump the oil on. Make a small pile of dust. I use 400 for normal final sanding.

I know it's too late now, but another trick I use is to wet down the wood with a damp rag after final sanding. That raises the nap on the wood, and final sand again. The original plan was to take the dust off. I noticed that the nap sometimes rises after applying the tung oil. So, more sanding had to be done. So, sometimes accidents cause ideas.

[Prashun Patel]

I've found BLO to muddy the grain of some walnut I finished. The effect is slight, but compared to a straight shellac or tung oil finish coat, the results were unmistakable.

I prefer tung oil. Are you using pure tung oil or a TO finish? Without any varnish binder, the wetsanded slurry might not stay permanently in the pores. You might consider adding a slight amount of varnish to the oil/spirits solution for the first few coats. This'll help the filler bind.

I'd wetsand the oil with 320 or 400.

If it were me, I'd continue wetsanding with oil/spirits (no varnish) up thru 600, 800 and 1000gt. You'll get such a silky finish, it'll make you weep.

[Arnold E Schnitzer]

To warm up the "dry" look of walnut, I first give it a wash of orange water stain. First I raise the grain. After the stain dries, use whatever finish you like, but don't sand until you have some build, otherwise you may blotch the color.

[Burt Alcantara]

After I put on the first coat of TO (pure) I was awe struck. Since this is a gift I began to dream up excuses why I couldn't part with the bowl. Stunning is the word.

Now, I'm hearing about filling the pores. To tell the truth, I don't know what that means or implies. There are a few pics in the Jeff Jewitt and Bob Flexner books but I'm still not clear what it means.

The walnut, with just TO, is breathtaking. If it gets better than this I don't know what I'm going to do.

[Prashun Patel]

If you like it as is, then power to you. Don't mess with it.

Walnut is an opengrained wood, so if you finish it with any buildy finish, it'll look dimply; it won't be perfectly flat. It's usually an issue on table tops which are big and flat. You can't get a glassy finish without filling that grain.

The more I think about it, on a bowl, filling the pores is probably more work than it's worth.

However, I DO recommend wetsanding up thru higher grits still. The oil acts as a lubricant. The higher grits will really burnish /polish the wood beautifully. I've done that on walnut and maple and it really makes for a surface that (to paraphrase Sam Malouf ) "invites to user to touch and experience the wood".

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Interesting observation on flat work (ow did I say that?) Shawn. I'm just finishing a project. I will have to keep an eye out for dimpling...... Or sand more..... Thanks for the tip!