Sealer on top of Danish Oil

[Shari Loveless]

I just oiled a carving on a headboard with two coats of danish oil at the customers request. Guess what.....they don't like it. I should have done it my usual way but they were sure they just wanted oil. Can I apply shellac to seal then apply a stain? I need to stain it but the carving has to get sealed with something first. The oil isn't enough. HELP!
thanks,
Shari

[Thomas Pender]

Try some wipe on poly, polyacrylic, and even some Target URL or its modern replacement. As long as the oil has cured, any of these work really well.

[Prashun Patel]

If I understand yr question, yr customer doesn't like the COLOR of the oil, right?

If you are asking whether you can apply shellac on top of DOil, answer is yes, but wait for it to cure first, from hours up to a couple days depending on temps and how thick you put it on.

However, you won't have success putting stain on TOP of shellac. Once sealed, nothing's getting in, and nothings getting out... The only thing shellac (dewaxed) would do for you is allow you to put a waterbased topcoat on top.

DOil is not just oil; it has some varnish in it and after several coats, will make a satiny semi-hard finish. If your customer wants it shinier or buildier, then switch to an oil varnish which can be applied directly on the DOil without shellac.

Last, if your customer just objects to the color, you might be able to find a different tint of Danish Oil that is pleasing. However, after the 1st coat's in, the changes in color will be marginal, so yr best bet for getting ANY color into the piece is sanding back and coloring first.

[Shari Loveless]

Thank you for the info. I'll give it a try.
Shari

[Howard Acheson]

I don't know if I understand the issue. Let me just give some general guidelines.

If you apply shellac to on top of the item that has danish oil on it, you will not be able to apply a stain and have it penetrate. Both the danish oil and the shellac will have sealed the surface.

An alternative to change the color is to use a gel stain. You can apply this on top of the danish oil. Gel stains sit on the surface of the wood and do not have to penetrate. Apply and wipe off until you have the color you want. Then apply some sort of clear coat.

[Shari Loveless]

I'm guessing I didn't explain it quite right. The issue was they couldn't see the carving. Without stain, it lacked the depth of my usual projects. I had never used oil before so we followed the suggestions given. The oil cured, we then applied one coat of wax free shellac, then a coat of stain. All is well now. The carving shows up great. I know now not to let the customer dictate the process when they had no clue about our already proven techniques.
thanks,
Shari