Time Crunch - BLO plus ?

[Mike Zilis]

I've made 7 serving trays out of cherry to give as Christmas presents this year. 24 hours ago I applied a coat of BLO and wiped it back extremely well. I've got 2 and a half days before I hand these out. I'm considering a couple coats of paste wax over the BLO. These trays won't see a lot of handling or abuse.

Instead of wax, I'm tempted to get a coat or two of ARM-R-SEAL on them which would be a much more durable/protective finish. I'm just worried about the dry time with the few days remaining.

Any suggestions?

-Mike

[Scott Holmes]

BLO should be dried/cured within 24 hours or so, if it's been in the 70's temperature wise. If it's out in a cold garage you may want to bring them in where it's warm.

Oil/varnish blend should also be OK after a day or so in a 70's temp range.

[Mike Zilis]

Thanks Scott. I was hoping you'd chime in as I've benefited indirectly from your excellent advice in the past. I've got a basement shop - which this time of year in the Chicago area averages around 64 degrees and low low humidity. I'm glad to hear ARM-R-SEAL could be a workable solution.

Is there another oil/varnish blend that's lower on the oil content that dries faster?

[Scott Holmes]

Sure, make your own oil/varnish blend. I use equal amounts of BLO, mineral spirits, and varnish.

An even faster dry, would be to mix a varnish with mineral spirits say 50% MS and 50% varnish wipe it on and it will dry to a nice in-the-wood look after a couple of coats. Wipe it on like the kid wipes the table at the fast food joint, entire dining room table top should take no more than a minute or two. Depending on the varnish you pick it will be dry-to-the-touch in 30 minutes to an hour or so. Repeat not more than 3 coats per night. Stop when you like the look.

[Mike Zilis]

I ran over to Rockler before they closed tonight to get some varnish so I could make my own wiping version. Boy was I confused! Other than marine spar varnish and Behler table top varnish, there didn't seem to be any plain varnish. Everything with the word varnish on it was mixed with something else already. What was I supposed to be looking for?

[Prashun Patel]

The Behlen's is a respected product. There are 3 popular varnish types: polyurethane, alkyd, and phenolic. The alkyd and phenolic types appear to many to be less plasticky. They also dry harder which makes them good candidates for rubbing out. The pros around here tend to prefer these over polyurethane varnishes.

A spar varnish will have some oil in it.

Waterlox is another good choice. I believe both Wlox and RHardTT are phenolic resin varnishes.

[Steve Schoene]

The Behlen Rockhard is a phenolic resin varnish manufactured using linseed oil. A very good one. Use the Rockhard reducer for thinning it. Waterlox is a phenolic resin varnish manufactured using tung oil. It's ok to thin with mineral spirits. Both are excellent varnishes. Alkyd varnishes are typically lighter in color, especially since they are often made with soya oil. An example is Pratt & Lambert 38. Not quite as durable as phenolic, but still quite good compared to alternatives. By the way, most "polyurethane varnishes" are primarily alkyd resin with polyurethane resin incorporated in varying amounts. Only two component finishes are made with pure polyurethane resin, and these are generally pro-only products,and not at all similar to the single part polyurethane varnishes made for the DIY market.

Spar varnish is a varnish which was manufactured using a larger percentage of oil when it was reacted with the resin to create the varnish. Hence it is a long oil varnish, but does not mean it was mixed with oil after the varnish was manufactured. Spar varnish is softer and not as water resistant as interior varnishes. Good outside, but not so good for furniture.

[Scott Holmes]

Prashun,

Spar varnish will have more oil when it made into varnsih; it is not varnish with oil added, which would be an oil/varnish blend. Once the oil and resin have been "cooked" in the absence of oxygen they form a new molecule called varnish, no more oil, no more resin.

[Mike Zilis]

So, do I understand correctly that if wanted to make my own low-oil wiping varnish, I could have started with Behlen's Tabletop Varnish and then added some reducer and BLO?

In lieu of knowing what I was doing, when I got back home I added one part mineral spirits to four parts Arm-R-Seal and foam brushed it on each of the serving trays. I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be able to add a second coat after some light 320 grit sanding.

The original coat of BLO I put on yesterday made the cherry feel like silk today. That's the first time I'd used it on a project. The grain really looks good too.

-Mike

[Prashun Patel]

Since time is a concern, I'm not sure why you want to mix BLO in it. The only reason I've done that is to keep the finish from building. If that's not a concern for you, just use a straight wiping varnish.

[Mike Zilis]

Prashun,

The low-oil wiping varnish I mentioned would be for next time. For this project, I went with Arm R Seal cut with mineral spirits.

I appreciate all the replies. Thanks!

-Mike

[Scott Holmes]

Wiping varnish is varnish thinned with either the manufactures thinner (Behlen's RHTT) or mineral spirits. Oil added to varnish is an in-the-wood oil/varnish blend. aka Danish oil finish. e.g. Watco, Minwax Tung oil.

End result is that a wiping varnish leaves a varnish film. No different than brushed or sprayed varnish other than the thicknees of each coat. An oil/varnish blend leave the finish in the wood; the microscopic film is very soft.