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Matthew Springer
03-08-2005, 1:11 PM
All,
So I made a bit of a mess.

I was working on the "Tool Chest Which has Taken Forever to Build, Hallelujah" this weekend. While applying my own recipe of 50/50 Danish oil and Tried and True Varnish oil to the lid, I got a little carried away playing video games. Specifically between the "put it on" and "wipe it off" stages.

This morning when I went out to the deck, I mean the fishing room, to check on the progress, I had a forehead slapping moment. Doh!!! It's amazing how many flies land on a 2' x 1' surface area in two days.

Needless to say I now have a sticky mess on the underside of my chest lid. Any ideas? Wipe it down with thinner? What thins Danish Oil?

-Matthew
Dave Anderson NH
03-08-2005, 2:14 PM
Live and learn huh Mathew.:D Not that I've ever pulled a bonehead manuveur like that before. And if you believe that I've got a great real estate deal for you in Brooklyn.


You have several alternatives for solvents. Turpentine, paint thinner, mineral spirits, or VM&P Naptha. By the way VM&P stands for Varnish Makers and Painters. All work well with a bit of heavy scrubbing and a scotchbrite pad or steel wool. The biggest difference is in speed of evaporation and the level of smell. Naptha is the fastest to evaporate and turps are probably the slowest- though I've never actually timed it. Remember that Danish oil is a mix of BLO, a solvent, and a small amount of varnish.
Doug Shepard
03-08-2005, 2:30 PM
That's one way to get that Insect-Trapped-In-Amber look.:rolleyes:
It might be easier to just take a sharp card scraper to it shave off the finish. Then 180 & 220 sand, and start over.
Matthew Springer
03-08-2005, 2:50 PM
So far it still hasn't cured, which is good. So I think if I can thin it down and re-wet the surface it should come off. I hope. The card scraper is a good back up plan, though.
Fortuantley the bulk of the chest was correctly wiped down. I was going to give the lid "20 more minutes" and of course that turned into 3 days. -sigh-

Now, Dave, about that bridge, I'm intrigued. I should have some money coming in from some long lost relatives in Nigeria any day now.

-Matthew