WOP finish

[Wally Wenzel]

I use wop as a finish on bowls for non food bowls. Ready to use wop Is getting more expensive all the time, I have a qt. of poly and wondering what the recipe is to mix my own wop.
Wally

[Mike Peace]

Just cut it 50% with mineral spirits.

[Richard Coers]

In my opinion, Minwax lowered the viscosity of their Quick Dry Poly and it works well right out of the can with rag application. But 20% is where I would start if you insist on thinning. 50% will make it like danish oil.

[Pat Scott]

If you read the label on your can of regular poly it probably says do not thin (which cracks me up). You paid for it, you can do whatever you want with it! Cutting regular poly 50/50 with mineral spirits is how to create your own WOP. Cutting regular poly 20% will just thin it. If you buy a can of store bought WOP there is no need or reason to thin it any more than it is already.

I think what Richard meant when he said "50% will make it like danish oil", is that cutting it 50% will make it the consistency of Danish Oil. But it's not Danish Oil until you add Tung Oil or Linseed Oil to the mix.

I make my own Danish Oil by mixing equal parts of regular poly, mineral spirits, and tung oil. One guy told me he uses equal parts of WOP, mineral spirits, and tung oil. I told him WOP is already thin, and by using it to make Danish Oil you're thinning it even more (because you're adding mineral spirits in the mix). I don't think he understood what I was talking about because he didn't understand that WOP is thinned regular poly.

[Wally Wenzel]

I still have a little store bought left so will figure out what i will do.
Thanks for all the info.
Wally

[Kyle Iwamoto]

This is great info, and could save some bucks, but, and I apologize if this is a dumb question, here goes. What do you folks that make your own WOP use for a container? I find that WOP goes bad when you open and close the original container all the time. Probably from the oxygen getting in there. So I transfer mine into little travel bottles. Handy and disposable. Can't seem to find a suitable quart or so good airtight container. I don't like the original pint/quart poly can, since it's difficult to pour into my little dispenser bottles.
Will it go bad in a plastic container? It does get slow and thick sitting around in the little travel bottles.
Thanks in advance.

[Don Stephan]

Stop Loss Bags.

[Wally Wenzel]

I bought the stop loss bags too but not sure about them. It seems to me they are very unhandy when trying to remove some to a smaller container to work from. If they made them to hang like a iv with a valve on the bottom it would be ok.
Wally

[Pat Scott]

What do you folks that make your own WOP use for a container?

I use a plastic bottle, my preference is either an 8oz or 12oz shampoo or liquid dish soap bottle with squirt cap. My latest is an empty 16oz bottle that had some cutting board oil I was trying. The bottles hold enough to last for several projects but not so much that I can't use it up before going bad. If there is any gelling that happens I'll filter it into a new bottle and throw the old bottle away.

[Harold Walsh]

I have used WOP on turnings but my go to finish now is Deft lacquer. It dries quickly and I prefer the finished look on my bowls. I suppose everyone has a favorite and this was my two cents worth.

[John King]

I use wop as a finish on bowls for non food bowls. Ready to use wop Is getting more expensive all the time, I have a qt. of poly and wondering what the recipe is to mix my own wop.
Wally

Wally - In all my years of woodworking and woodturning I have never understood why one would want to mix their own finish. There are dozens of wood finishes available on the retail market. All backed by research and technical support that cannot be matched by a single woodworker. Hard for me to believe that a woodworker could craft a finish superior to what's on the market. I would rather spend my time making stuff, than trying to craft a finish superior to what can be purchased from a woodworking supply house.

What do you see as the benefit of crafting your own finish? - John

[Wally Wenzel]

John, I was not trying to invent something new.I use and love WOP i think is a fast and simple way and maks a beautiful finish, I have a quart of regular poly and thought I might as well make good use of it.
Wally

[Jay Mullins]

Sometimes it's nice to be able to make your own finish, not necessarily trying to out-do the manufacturers research and development but because we like to make things. Hence we could buy bowls much cheaper than we can make them, but we make things.

[Edward Weingarden]

I bought the stop loss bags too but not sure about them. It seems to me they are very unhandy when trying to remove some to a smaller container to work from. If they made them to hang like a iv with a valve on the bottom it would be ok.
Wally

I find the Stop Loss bags very easy to work with. The small opening allows you to pour the desired amount into the container of your choosing; it doesn't spill the way it would if pouring out of the can. Once you've poured out the desired amount, sit the bag on the work bench (it stays upright on it's own), squeeze the air out and screw the cap back on.

[John K Jordan]

This is great info, and could save some bucks, but, and I apologize if this is a dumb question, here goes. What do you folks that make your own WOP use for a container? I find that WOP goes bad when you open and close the original container all the time. Probably from the oxygen getting in there. So I transfer mine into little travel bottles. Handy and disposable. Can't seem to find a suitable quart or so good airtight container. I don't like the original pint/quart poly can, since it's difficult to pour into my little dispenser bottles.
Will it go bad in a plastic container? It does get slow and thick sitting around in the little travel bottles.
Thanks in advance.

I don't know if oxygen will diffuse through plastic, but I know that moisture will so I suspect oxygen will also.

There have been lots of ideas about preserving finishes, from turning the cans upside down, filling the air space with marbles, decanting into smaller bottles, and using stoploss bags. I didn't like the idea of dealing with any of these so I just lived with throwing the finishes out until I discovered Bloxygen. It really worked but was relatively expensive. Bloxygen works by displacing the air and specifically the oxygen in the can/bottle with inert gas.

I realize not everyone can do this: I keep a Q cylinder of compressed nitrogen in the shop with a regulator and a plastic tube. IMO, there is nothing better to preserve finishes in opened containers than eliminating the oxygen. The tank is expensive but less expensive in the long run than Bloxygen, especially if you already have a spare cylinder and regulator. The raw gas is inexpensive.

I use nitrogen in every container of finish before I close it, danish oil, shellac, poly, etc. As proof of the effectiveness I displaced the air in several opened bottles of Tru-Oil. https://www.fieldandstream.com/tru-oil-gun-stock-finish/

Tru-Oil is sold as a gunstock finish but it's great for woodturnings, guitars, etc. Tru-Oil is notorious about setting up after opening the bottle, probably the reason they sell it in small containers. I have had several bottles set up, first thicken, then become gel and solid. Maybe 4 years ago I used the nitrogen in two bottles of Tru-Oil. To this day they remain liquid when I shake the bottle or open one to use a little. I'm a believer.

I've used the same tank for a long time for finishes and a number of other things on the farm. When it eventually runs out I have a spare tank of argon to put in it's place.

JKJ

[Stan Calow]

I use these cubitainers: https://www.amazon.com/Cole-Parmer-AO-35204-79-EPC3030-Cubitainer-Liter/dp/B01N9XVO3X/ref=sr_1_13?dchild=1&keywords=cubitainer&qid=1596382696&sr=8-13

They're collapsible plastic, come in multiple sizes. Used in laboratory work and sampling. Once open, I decant containers of BLO and Waterlox into them to reduce air exposure.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

for storage and use of things like WOP and shine juice, I save the narrow shaker bottles for soy sauce and Worchestershire sauce. Easy to shake to mix if separated and a resealable cap with a small hole to pour just a few drops out for use. When I used plastic the stuff went bad in a few months, in the glass, it lasts years instead.

[Brice Rogers]

The idea of displacing the oxygen to extend the can life is good. On occasion, I have injected some propane from a propane torch. It is substantially heavier than air so it "should" work. So should butane. I'm not a chemist, but I suspect that it wouldn't interact with the finish. Interestingly, nitrogen is just slightly lighter than air. But if a person introduces nitrogen and does wait too long, it'll probably do just fine in displacing air (with oxygen). CO2 is similar to propane in its density.

[Jeff Clode]

The propane idea is interesting- can anyone think of a reason not to do that? It’s an idea that’s been batted around for a while......

[John K Jordan]

The propane idea is interesting- can anyone think of a reason not to do that? It’s an idea that’s been batted around for a while......

Propane does work. One serious caution, of course, is using flammable gases around sparks or flames! Yikes. Read the comment from the Bloxygen people below.

CO2 has also been used in some case. Note that the commercial oxygen displacing Bloxygen now uses pure Argon. But when they started they used a mix of argon, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. From the first can I bought:

438646

Nitrogen is slightly lighter than pure oxygen but insignificantly less lighter than atmospheric air (which is almost 80% nitrogen - do the math) so it does work, but argon is arguably marginally better. However, the Bloxygen people quit using nitrogen and CO2. From their current FAQs: "CO2? We use ultra pure Argon because it's totally inert. CO2 is okay, but it's not totally inert and will react with water to form carbonic acid. "

Their comment about propane: "What about Propane? No. Just NO. This is dangerous."

You can read the Bloxygen FAQs here. Keep in mind that they are in the business of touting their product!
http://www.bloxygen.com/frequently-asked-questions.html

JKJ