Question from a Dummie!!!

[Jason Tuinstra]

Said dummie - myself - said to wonderful wife "Sure honey, we can't eat at the table even though it only has BLO on it. No big deal." Well, some water got on the table top and now I have a nice little ring. It shouldn't be that big of a fix, but I thought I'd get some help.

I thought putting some more BLO on the top would fix it, but it didn't. Like I said, dummie fit's the bill on this one. Next step in my previously established "dummie" thinking is to sand it. But before I do this, I thought I should get a little help from my friends. So, what think ye? Do I burn the table and stat over :p That's the last resort

Thanks!

Jason

[Dennis Peacock]

Jason,

One thing you are NOT is a dummy!!!!

BLO is an oil finish right? Why not try saturating the local area with MS and scrub lightly with a synthetic pad, wipe and try saturating the area with some good ol' Denatured Alcohol? Never done this but it seems to me that there is water vapor in the oil that needs to be "escaped" and by thinning the oil and rubbing very well with DA, this seems like it would allow the moisture to escape and try another round of BLO and see how it comes out.

No real experience in patching a BLO finish, but just thinking "out loud". :rolleyes: ;)

[lou sansone]

I may be way off base here and I am sure the finishing police will pull me over on this one, but I thought that BLO had metallic driers added to it. Those driers are not really food safe. I understand that you are eating on plates ( at least one could assume that ), but is there any problem with using just BLO for places that come in contact with food. Just wondering.

lou

[Jim Becker]

I may be way off base here and I am sure the finishing police will pull me over on this one, but I thought that BLO had metallic driers added to it. Those driers are not really food safe. I understand that you are eating on plates ( at least one could assume that ), but is there any problem with using just BLO for places that come in contact with food. Just wondering.

lou

ALL finishes sold today are food safe when cured. The metalic driers are only of concern if you are drinking the finish right out of the can...which I don't recommend unless you're really in love with your toilet...;)

Sorry, Jason, I'm not sure what the solution is. You might contact Jeff Jewitt at Homesteadfinishing.com to see if he can make a suggestion.

[Jason Tuinstra]

I may be way off base here and I am sure the finishing police will pull me over on this one, but I thought that BLO had metallic driers added to it. Those driers are not really food safe. I understand that you are eating on plates ( at least one could assume that ), but is there any problem with using just BLO for places that come in contact with food. Just wondering.

lou

Lou, this was a one time only kind of thing. I was getting ready to finish the table with some lacquer next week. It's been in our dining room for awhile and we thought we might give it a test run. Ah, I should have waited just a little longer.

Dennis, I'll give your suggestion a shot. Can't hurt... I don't think. At least it makes sense to me.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thanks guys!

Jason

[Paul Prescott]

From Flexner's "Understanding Wood Finishing" - had the same thing happen myself and fixed it with this:

1. wipe over with a cloth very lightly dampened with denatured alcohol. - no more than will leave the appearance of a vapor trail as you wipe. Wetter may soften and streak the finish or leave a water mark itself. Don't rub hard and don't wet the surface.

That helped my case, but didn't eliminate the stain. Went on to the next. more aggressive suggestion:

2. The damage is usually right at the surface. Cut through it with a mild abrasive and light rubbing. Avoid rubbing in a sheen that stands out from the rest of the finish. Toothpaste, or cigarette ashes mixed with water or oil leaves a gloss sheen and sometimes works. Pumice and #0000 steel wool create a satin sheen and almost always work. Lubricate them with oil or wax so they scratch less. [Worked for me!]

[Jason Tuinstra]

Dennis and Paul get the big "atta' boy!"

I just got back from HD, which is all of a half mile away. I picked up some DA since I had to get rid of all mine in the move. Anyway, wiped lightly. Not a thing. Then, not knowing any better, I flooded the surface and started lightly rubbing it out with a "Norton 3x 320 countour pad." Wonder of all wonders, "poof" it was gone! Now I won't have to see the bad man in my sleep tonight. I applied another light coat of BLO, and the surface is smoother than ever.

Thanks guys! Next round of sweet tea is on me :D :p

Jason

[Michael Cody]

Dennis and Paul get the big "atta' boy!"

I just got back from HD, which is all of a half mile away. I picked up some DA since I had to get rid of all mine in the move. Anyway, wiped lightly. Not a thing. Then, not knowing any better, I flooded the surface and started lightly rubbing it out with a "Norton 3x 320 countour pad." Wonder of all wonders, "poof" it was gone! Now I won't have to see the bad man in my sleep tonight. I applied another light coat of BLO, and the surface is smoother than ever.

Thanks guys! Next round of sweet tea is on me :D :p

Jason


The reason alchol works is that the ring is caused by water trapped under the surface and mixed into the cured oil finish. What the DA does is locally disolve the cured finish and since water and alchol mix well (see Maker's Mark & Ice w/a splash of water) .. and DA is alcohol that has the max amount of water removed, the DA soaks up the water molecules then evaporates taking the water away and letting the finish re-dry.. trick is not to muck up the finish surface to change the sheen at that location.

[Dennis Peacock]

Dennis and Paul get the big "atta' boy!"

I just got back from HD, which is all of a half mile away. I picked up some DA since I had to get rid of all mine in the move. Anyway, wiped lightly. Not a thing. Then, not knowing any better, I flooded the surface and started lightly rubbing it out with a "Norton 3x 320 countour pad." Wonder of all wonders, "poof" it was gone! Now I won't have to see the bad man in my sleep tonight. I applied another light coat of BLO, and the surface is smoother than ever.

Thanks guys! Next round of sweet tea is on me :D :p

Jason

Very glad it worked out well for ya Jason.!!!! :D :D I'll drink an extra glass of sweet tea to help celebrate!!!! ;) :D

[Norman Hitt]

Jason, I'm sure glad it worked out for you,'cause that table was just too nice to end up with a Blemish on it.

Since Finishing Is certainly not my best or Favorite "Talent", I might add a little Trick I Finally discovered from necessity, that sure kept me from getting into REAL Trouble with the finish on my project like I had done several times before, when the "Fix" made the problem even worse.

When you have a nice piece with ANY kind of problem in a Finish, Rather than chance making the problem worse on your project, take the Scrap that you put your test finish on, (or if you didn't make one, make one now), and then duplicate the "finish problem" on the test scrap by doing whatever you did that caused the problem on your project. You may need more than one of these test pieces, depending on how successful your 1 st, 2 nd, or 3 rd correction attempt may be. When you find the right method to fix the problem, THEN you can use that method on your project and feel relatively safe that it will be successful. DAMHIKT

Note: This method may take a little longer, but may save you much heartache on your project's finish.