Poly over walnut oil?

[Dune Crane]

So here's the deal: I finished a bowl with Mahoney's walnut oil and after the fact realized that this particular bowl would look a lot better with a slightly glossier finish. It's claro walnut with a lot of figure and the walnut oil just doesn't bring it out enough for my taste.
After it has dried, cured, etc. would I be able to put wipe-on poly over it to get a bit more depth and shine?
It's not worth risking ruining it completely by experimenting, so I thought I'd ask.
Thanks.

[Reed Gray]

It should work fine. A wipe on poly is in a solvent base, and it should penetrate and seal with no problem. If it is a water based finish, it might not work. I am not positive if having the walnut oil fully cured is necessary or not, and that it because of the solvents in the wipe on product. They should inter act with the walnut oil no problem. Maybe try it on a test piece first.

robo hippy

[Dune Crane]

Thanks much. Your test piece suggestion reminded me that I cored a very small bowl out of the larger one, so I can see how it works on that one.

[Harry Robinette]

Call Mike Mahoney he should be able to tell you what will work. He's a super nice guy and will be glad to help. I can't find his number right now I think I must of lost it. Think I got it from his web site.

[Prashun Patel]

You are taking a risk not because of the compatibility, but because the walnut oil does not dry and cure. You are putting a film over a soft finish which can prevent the poly from curing. If the walnut oil is light enough, it may not be an issue. If it were me, i would wipe thoroughly the bowl with mineral spirits and then wipe the bowl thoroughly with clean rags and let it dry. The ms will help remove most of the walnut oil. The residual ms evaporates whereas the oil does not. This will leave you with a dryer, cleaner surface upon which to put the poly.

Ymmv.

[Paul Engle]

Prashun is correct , I tried that about 6 yrs ago and it got to be a mess ... it was off with it all , wiped down with paint thinner , let dry .

[David C. Roseman]

Prashun is correct , I tried that about 6 yrs ago and it got to be a mess ... it was off with it all , wiped down with paint thinner , let dry .

Prashun and Paul, this is good to know, and a bit surprising. Glad Dune asked. I would have thought that a wipe-on poly would work fine without first removing the underlying walnut oil because the urethane is already so diluted by the WOP oil component (compared to a full-film brush-on polyurethane).

David

[Reed Gray]

Some walnut oils do dry and cure, some don't. The stuff you buy in the grocery store does not cure, in part because of how they process it. The walnut oil from Mike and The Doctor's Woodshop do dry and cure. It takes a week or so. I have a cured film/skin on the outside of all my plastic bottles of both of these products.

robo hippy

[Prashun Patel]

What i should have said is that true walnut oil ( if thats what mahoneys is) does not dry hard. Like blo, it might polymerize but it wont get harder beyond gummy. The softness and the fact that it continues to dry underneath the faster drying poly on top of it means you risk a poly layer that itself does not want to dry hard.

There are othe variables that affect the performance like how thick all the coats are, and how long they have been allowed to dry. You will find plenty of people who have put poly over walnut, blo, and tung oil. But there exists a risk. So caveat emptor . Caveat emptor with this advice too ;)