BLO - how long should it dry btwn coats?

[Chip Sutherland]

I need to put some finish on an african mahogany bowl by Sunday. If I start tonight....do I have enough time to use boiled linseed oil and some Deft? The bowl is a prototype of a collection bowl for our church. I have some Mylands friction polish but I really don't want to use it.

Before anybody whines about the wood I used....it was free. A friend with a door manufacturing facility laminated up 2 pieces of 12x12x4 then cut them 10" round on his CNC. It was nice not having to rough them round. It wasn't much fun to turn because of the inevitable end-grain tearing. I sharpened a lot and did a lot of hand-sanding of the end-grain areas. Lucky me, I've got 9 more blanks...of which I need 6 decent bowls but I'd like to have eight

Once these bowls wear out or eventually break, I'll replace them with some prettier woods.

[Jim Becker]

BLO takes at least 3-5 days to cure. But if you use a barrier coat of shellac, you can have a very nice finish for Sunday. Skip the lacquer since it's a prototype...just oil, let it work and put on the shellac early Sunday morning. It dries in minutes.

[Chip Sutherland]

That's just what I needed to know. Thanks

[Dennis Peacock]

Chip,

Yes you can....but as Jim stated, it really should cure for 3 to 5 days...BUT...You can "push" the BLO to cure better by doing this:

1. Put on a nice heavy coat of BLO and let set for about 10 minutes.
2. Crank up the speed on the lathe to about 1200 RPM.
3. Take a nice soft, clean cloth and friction rub that BLO on the surface of the bowl while spinning on the lathe. Get is rather "warm" while spinning it.
4. Slow the speed way down and wipe with another clean cloth that has no BLO on it, a softish paper towel will suffice for this.
5. Put a wash coat of shellac on the bowl which about a 1 pound cut of shellac and let dry....should be just a few minutes.
6. Take a piece of cloth felt if you have any and buff that baby in. If it needs another wash coat of shellac, put it on, let dry and buff again with the cloth felt.

If you have a buffing wheel, even if its one from the local BORG that will mount in your drill press....you can "push" the BLO to dry by buffing on the drill press at about 1800 RPM on a 4" buffing wheel on the drill press. I have found that this method works very well for me and the arbor, buffing wheels and compound are less than $20 at the local big box store. If you buff with a compound from the kit...only use the brown and white compounds. Never use the black compound from the kit on wood or you will wish you hadn't. :rolleyes:

Hope this helps a little. :D

[John Hart]

Dennis...You just helped me a lot!! (sorry for the hijack Chip) I have two questions though:
1. When you say a shellac wash, 1 pound cut....what does that mean exactly? Add some alcohol? how much?

2. On the buff procedure with the felt...does this keep the shellac from globbing up?

Thanks!

[Andy Hoyt]

John - Dennis appears to know far more than I do on this topic, but I thought I'd jump in with a bit of info.

As an experiment recently I turned some very dark maple in into a sphere, sanded to 400 and then put on some of that Mylands Friction Polish (which is essentially shellac - but I'm not sure of the cut). I then buffed it with Beall using all three steps. The thing looks great and is sitting on a shelf for the "time will tell test".

That was about thrree weeks ago and seems to be holding up okay.

I did this solely as an experiment to try to come up with a quick shiny durable finishing process.

[Dennis Peacock]

Dennis...You just helped me a lot!! (sorry for the hijack Chip) I have two questions though:
1. When you say a shellac wash, 1 pound cut....what does that mean exactly? Add some alcohol? how much?

2. On the buff procedure with the felt...does this keep the shellac from globbing up?

Thanks!

Good Morning John,

The Shellac....1 pound cut is 1 pound of shellac flakes dissolved in a gallon of DNA....or 1/2 pound of shellac flakes in 1/2 gallon of DNA, or 1/4 pound of shellac flakes in a quart of DNA....well...you get the idea. A 1 pound cut of shellac is used for a sanding sealer or a finish where you want to very slowly build a hand-rubbed shellac finish...although, I'd use a 1-1/2 or 2 pound cut for a hand applied finish of shellac.

Felt buffing....No, the shellac should be dry and the friction of the felt and the shellac will help the piece get a lite "glass" finish to it. Felt has no "grain", unlike a cotton T-Shirt and will not leave "cloth lines" in your spinning piece. A finish that works GREAT by using felt is a mix of BLO, Tung Oil, and Mineral Spirits. Apply, let set about 5 minutes, wipe it off. Let dry over night. Reapply, let set about 5 minutes, wipe off the excess, let dry over night. Take a felt pad and turn on the lathe......have fun with it. You'd be amazed at just "experimenting" what you can find out. :eek: :D

[John Hart]

Thanks Muchly!!! I'll give 'er a go. My finishes still leave a lot to be desired. I want to find that "perfect" finish.....but then...don't we all?:)

[Andy Hoyt]

... A finish that works GREAT by using felt is a mix of BLO, Tung Oil, and Mineral Spirits. Apply, let set about 5 minutes, wipe it off. Let dry over night. Reapply, let set about 5 minutes, wipe off the excess, let dry over night. Take a felt pad and turn on the lathe......have fun with it....

Dennis - What are the proportions of this BLO, TO, and MS mix?

[Dennis Peacock]

Dennis - What are the proportions of this BLO, TO, and MS mix?

Howdy Andy,

1/3 of each.....but.....don't mix much at a time. It will "set" on you!!:D Only mix 1 ounce at a time, for a total of 3 ounces. This will give you 3 ounces of finish to use and belive me, Unless you're finishing a furniture project? This little 3 ounces will do at least 2 lathe pieces of about 8" in size.

[Andy Hoyt]

Perfect. Thanks.