Oil infusion

[Ken Hill]

I do a ton of oak....and in the past 18 months ive sort of kinda come up with a finishing process that I hope will work with it.

Last year it was turn, DNA soak, paper/tape and dry.

This was met with mixed results, some of which were my fault as I wasnt as clean with the cuts when roughing or re mounting to finish the bowl. Wasnt a huge deal however on the NE lets say I created some fancy firewood.

So the past few months, ive been turning to final thickness, applying much finer cuts and sanding to 220. Then a DNA soak and then the oil begins. BLO daily until it starts acting like it doesnt want any more then I give it a few days, and start with Antique Oil. Usually 3 coats works well. So far, no warping, no cracking and the bowls are finished with what I think would be inline(time wise) with what some of the more experienced guys here are posting. Basically, 2 to 3 weeks from turn to finish.

I would use AS more, but the oak grain is open and with the NE I just dont know how that would all play out seeing im going through them to completion so far without issue. I did a few test bowls last year that were a bit thicker then i'm doing now and followed the oil procedure. They did warp but zero cracks and the nice oval. A quick vacuum chuck mount, clean up the bottom so it sits level and its ready. I posted my "Gold Pot" which was done in this manner as one of the completed items from my test batch.

Am I online with my procedure or am I making it more difficult? Its no trouble to oil them up and so far seems to be working. Uniform thickness still appears to be the #1 factor but I have to think the oil is helping retard the drying and since this is my prefered finish it just flows along as I work through them. Happy to hear any insights or suggestions!

[John Keeton]

Ken, this will be an interesting thread. I have often wondered what would happen by just submerging in BLO or some similar oil, a finish turned, but green, piece. Seems like it should soak up a lot of oil and minimize cracking.

When I was in to building longrifles, a mentor who built very high quality rifles soaked his completed stocks (after all carving and inletting) in a "secret" mix of coal oil?, and some other stuff for several days. Very thin mix, but it had a distinct oily texture. Another friend said it smelled of diesel fuel, which would be consistent. He was able to avoid all movement by doing that.

Warpage on the forestock of a longrifle is critical as any movement transfers to the soft metal barrell. It is amazing to put a steel barrel in a paper thin stock that is slightly warped and then sight down the barrell - it will twist it!!!

[Ken Hill]

John, I used to bench shoot and we found several stocks that would swell on a very humid day as the barrels heated up the stock. Some of these stocks were high dollar hand fitted but we found were too closely fitted and once the slightest contact was made the accuracy would fall off(5 shot strings at 200 yards measuring under 1/4 inch) We would adjust the clearence so that the barrel remained free floated and that weapon was good to go. Now I know why the stock would swell, didnt back then, we just blamed it on the fitment. Kind of weird, because if a full floated barrel wouldnt shoot, we would start shimming the barrel and moving the shim until it shot, then use fiberglass to build up that area.

[John Keeton]

Ken, that works on a modern rifle, but on a longrifle the barrel is actually pinned to the very thin forestock in at least three locations. It don't take much to throw off the point of bullet impact!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Ken for some time now probably 1 1/2 yrs on HF and NE's I turn to finish thickness then soak with Antique Oil. On HF's I pour oil on the inside and slosh it around till I see no dry spots. When it is wet all over and has bled thru to the outside then I wet the outside. I just keep both the NE and HF wet until I have no more dry spots show up. I have had very little warping/movement if any with no cracks so far. I generally add 2 sometimes 3 more coats after the initial soaking letting that first coat dry for 24 to 48 hrs. Don't know if it is right or wrong but it has worked well for me. I just turned a ash bowl and flooded it with Lee Valley Tung Oil sealer. I did the same process of flooding it till no more dry spots showed up. I let the first coat dry for 48 hrs and have added 2 more coats. It has been 4 days now and haven't measured it but it doesn't look like it has moved/warped much and it has no cracks. Be interesting to see after it has cured for a week or so.

[Ken Hill]

Ken, that works on a modern rifle, but on a longrifle the barrel is actually pinned to the very thin forestock in at least three locations. It don't take much to throw off the point of bullet impact!

Oh I know haha! I cant imagine using what our forefathers did way back then, nor trying to replicate it!

Bernie, that gives me some support to my line of thinking, many thanks!

[Reed Gray]

With my green turned bowls (1/4 to 1/2 inch), the DNA soak was a waste of time. It did nothing. I guess it is effective for thicker twice turned pieces, but I have never done any of those.

I would expect an extended soak of thinned down finish would go a long way to infusing the wood and stabilizing it. Maybe not as good as the polymer infusion which involved vacuum and pressure chambers, and a liquid that has the viscosity of gasoline. I had a friend who put one piece in a vacuum pot that was filled with a Danish oil solution. Piece was very heavy when dry, so it did go all the way through. Keeping the piece wet with finish for days would allow deep penetration, because once it starts to cure, penetration will stop.

robo hippy

[Ken Hill]

I think maybe thats why I transition to the AO as it cures and seals the BLO in...or atleast thats my line of thinking. Im watching a Red Oak NE today that has soaked up 3 heavy wipings of BLO. I checked on it every few hours and teh areas that tend to warp are drying much faster (common knowledge) then the rest of the piece viewable by seeing the oil all but absorbed in those areas. Maybe I will indeed try a dunk tank where I can leave a bowl in there for a few hours.

I have seen turners drop duck call bodies directly into a solution immediatley after sanding (they never would come clean on what was in it). This was with kiln dried wood so I had a feeling it was a way to help get an oil deep into the call inside and out before finishing, which more then likely was an oil finish.

[Don Alexander]

personally i prefer clear Danish oil to BLO for soaking my bowls ...... it not only seems to penetrate better , it definitely does not alter the natural color of the wood nearly as much as BLO does

YMMV

[Brodie Brickey]

Ken, this will be an interesting thread. I have often wondered what would happen by just submerging in BLO or some similar oil, a finish turned, but green, piece. Seems like it should soak up a lot of oil and minimize cracking.


I soaked some really punky pen blanks in BLO for a couple weeks and set them out to dry. It didn't work as well as I like. As I turned the blank, I exposed un-cured BLO. It might have worked if I'd left it for a year or more, but that's a long time to wait.

I would like to try a vacuum chamber and a thinner oil/varnish mixture to see if I could exchange air for oil on a finished piece.

[Baxter Smith]

Ken, I have sanded and soaked several cherry burl and white oak items with AO that I turned thin before placing them in bags. Some developed cracks and some didn't. They still changed shape but I can't say how much relative to not doing it. I didn't try multiple days of oiling though which probably makes a difference. . If you found something that works, keep right on doing it!

[Ken Hill]

Im in no hurry to dry them, so AS fits the bill just fine for regular bowls......just not keen on trying to get it off a NE:p