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View Full Version : Walnut pics attached - pls see


Matt P
12-12-2006, 10:12 PM
This is the blotchy look on walnut I get with oil such as Watco or BLO. Not sure if that's the way it's supposed to be. My pieces are not perfect grain, and there are a lot of knots and swirls. Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Matt
Dennis Peacock
12-12-2006, 11:59 PM
Matt,

What I see there is what I've seen in many walnut pieces before. The problem is the softer areas in walnut will soak up the oil and produce dark spot(s) while the harder part of walnut will seem to resist a lot of oil and produce a lighter oil finish color. What I've found to work pretty good on walnut is to put a wash coat of Dewaxed Dark Garnet Shellac at about a 1 pound cut. The dark garnet color will bring out more of the beauty in the walnut and provide a more even tone to the wood. Other than that? I would sand to about 600 grit and use the oil very sparingly by applying to a rag and rubbing the tiny bit of oil over the surface spreading it as thinly as possible. This will help better control the amount of oil that get in the softer areas of the wood.

Of course you could also use a sizing to lightly seal the wood as well to make it all go move evenly. Brush on a mix of 10 parts water to one part white or yellow ww'ers glue and let dry about 2 hours.

Confused now? I hope this provides at least an idea to try. :D
Matt P
12-13-2006, 10:20 PM
Thank you very much Dennis. I believe your advice works - i put a COUPLE of washcoats of shellac, then the oil. Better. Or alternatively as you say, a *very* light coat of oil at first, not flooding it.
Jim Becker
12-14-2006, 9:16 AM
Once you seal the wood, Matt, there is little point on using the oil. Just go directly to shellac. What you are experiencing is exactly what Dennis called out...uneven absorbtion be...the figure. This is a "I like it" or "I hate it" moment... ;)
Chris Barton
12-14-2006, 10:12 AM
An additional consideration is that on your test pieces you have a lot of open pores in the sample. To a drgree the shellac will help with this but, if you want a glass smooth finish you will need to use some type of pore filler. But, that might not be the look your are going for...