Maloof Oil finish on Black Walnut

[Bill Rogers]

I am already down the slope of applying a Maloof Oil finish (1/3 BLO, 1/3 Pure Tung Oil & 1/3 P&L 38 Varnish) on a Black Walnut bookcase. I had these products on hand and I liked the way that they looked on a sample.
I read that you should wait a minimum of 24 hours between coats and to apply three coats.
My questions are:

1.) Are three coats enough or should I apply more coats? If more coats are recommended, then how many should I apply?

2.) When I am all through with the oil finish should I apply a top coat? If yes: what should I use? P&L 38, Shellac, or ?

Bill

[Prashun Patel]

Since there's a large oil component to this, the critical part of this is letting it soak for the right amount of time and then buffing it all off the surface.

Just do as many coats as it takes to get the sheen even.

If you have the elbows for it, you can really improve the look and feel on walnut by wetsanding your coats with 400, then 600, then 800 grit sandpaper; taking care to wipe off the slurry before leaving it to dry each time. This will fill the pores to an extent.

As for a top coat, the Maloof recipe is to use an 66% oil/ 33% wax mixture to buff the surface. If you wetsand as I mention above, though, then you'll find there's no need to apply wax or to rub out after curing.

[Keith Harrell]

I just finished a black walnut coffee table using Sam's finish.
I first applied 6 coats oil/poly
I then applied 6 coats of oil/wax
Patel may have a good idea as the reason I apply so many coats is to try and fill the pores.
If this is the first time you are using it then it's important to wipe ALL the finish off after letting it soak in usually 15 minutes. What ever is not wiped off will be like pine sap or thick honey. It needs to be very thin to dry bottom line. I use a light a different angle to see the shine.

[Scott Holmes]

Sam Maloof was an inspiration to many. His oil finish however is nothing spectactular. It is an oil/varnish blend. As a matter of fact the Maloof Oil finish is polyurethane varnish/oil blend. The oil/varnish you made is far superior to the Maloof oil/vanish blend sold to the public.

I'm not sure Sam used poly as his varnish of choice, since he started making his oil/varnish blend long before poly was popular. I suspect the marketing guys or the manufacturer pushed for the poly varnish (read---> PROFIT) in his named finish.

To the OP ...No need to top coat this wonderful oil/varnish in-the-wood finish.

[Prashun Patel]

Norm from NYW seems to be a fan of Polyurethane. Perhaps that's a function of sponsorship.

However, I also visited George Nakashima's studio and his grandson told me that they used poly/oil blends for their tables. He was certainly under no sponsorship duress when he told me that.

[glenn bradley]

With no natural or learned finishing skills . . . I used a similar finish in the not too distant past and am planning it for a current project (test boards already in). I apply the first coat liberally and wait about 30 minutes (in SoCal) and then rub it off like I was trying to remove it. Did that again and gave it 24hrs. I applied a "3rd" coat, waited 30 minutes, wiped it off and waited 24 hrs for 3 or 4 more coats. I judged the last coat as "last" when I had the look I was after.

Took about a week to cure to confident handling and I waited another 2 weeks (probably for no reason at all) before setting something on it. Came out beautiful and has proven quite durable.

[Scott Holmes]

Varnish takes ~ 30 days to completely cure so your time schedule was about perfect.

I use the if you can still smell it; it's not finished curing test.

[Scott Holmes]

I suspect the sponsors have A LOT TO SAY.

While having lunch with David Marks a while back; he told me the the sponsors and producers tell you everything to say and do. There is no choice, other than to stop doing show, David quit doing his show.

Sponsors/manufacturers make a lot more money on the cheap, easy to make run-of-the-mill poly.