Choosing an Oil For Curly Maple

[Caleb Dietrich]

Hello all,

I'm finishing a few curly maple sidetables. I am going to dye them with one of a few colors I am choosing from--I'm leaning toward transfast analine Early American Maple. I have a quart of Tried and True "Original Wood Finish" which is a thick mixture of Linseed oil/Beeswax. However, I'm wondering if their "Danish Oil" would do more to bring out the figure in the Maple.
I'd appreciate any suggestions.
Thank you

[Dave Anderson NH]

You were AWOL from the period furniture meeting yesterday Caleb.:D

I wouldn't use either the Tried and True or the Danish oil if you intend to topcoat with shellac, a varnish, or lacquer. The T&T's wax will interfere with with atopcoat as will the small amount of varnish in the Danish oil. I'd use either straight BLO cut about 1/3 with either mineral spirits or naptha, or alternately walnut oil. Any topcoat will go over these after they cure.

[Steve Schoene]

Straight BLO will work fine, but an oil/varnish mix (without wax) will have just about the same effect and won't create a problem with adhesion of top coats, as long as you are not planning to use polyurethane or a waterborne top coat.

[Caleb Dietrich]

Hi Dave,

I was working on my tables... I'm hoping to make the meeting at Homestead next Sat.

I'm not planing on using a top coat of any other finish. I am hoping to use the dye and then 3 + coats of the oil. I'm just wondering if the Tried and True "Danish Oil" will bring the figure out better then their "Original Wood Finish." I'm not sure how, or if, their Danish oil is diferent from others on the market.

[Jim Becker]

Caleb, the T&T original and the T&T "danish oil" are identical other than the beeswax in the former. Only the T&T "varnish oil" is a different formula. If you are going to top-coat, just use garden-variety 'borg BLO...far cheaper than the T&T. But they will look the same on the wood... ;)

[Brett Daniels]

I designed and built an electric guitar that used birdseye maple with laminations of honduras mahogany. I used Fruitwood Danish oil and used a polyurethane varnish (Varathane, for durability) as a topcoat with no problems. The Danish oil also accentuated the wood grain by deepening the color at certain grain and by not absorbing much at all at the brighter areas. It worked very well with no compatibility isues.