This Rotten Desk will Kill Me Yet

[Bruce Cohen]

I've been working (not too hard) on a desk for my 20 yr old daughter for over a year now.

I've finally come to the conclusion I'm an idiot.

After making the same mistake (template to route out a pair of butler's hinges) I almost gave up, but first PMed Cabinetman. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the entire forum. Cab sent me a screen capture from Rockler utilizing a much simpler, though not as elegant hinge. It allowed me to achieve in 30 minutes what I spent 3 weekends messing up with.

Now that I've confessed that I'm a moron to all, this question is almost normal.

I want to finish the desk (made of solid Hard Maple and Hard Maple plywood, best quality) using Watco Danish Oil. I've always had great success using this. Three coats, with the third rubbed in with 400 wet/dry paper. It builds up a slurry that hides all almost the screw ups you make. Rub it in and then rub it off. After a day or so to dry, I apply two coats of Liberon Black Bison clear polish, with the first using 4-0 liberon steel wool.

Anyway, I ran a one coat test using 100% clear Watco, 50/50 mix (clear and cherry Watco, the top is cherry so I figured it would be a good touch), 25% Cherry/75% natural and 1/3 natural / 2/3 cherry.

The 100% natural looks the best except that I'm seeing a bit of blotching. It's happening on all of the mixes, but lightest on the all natural.

The maple is sanded to 220 as final grit, and then rubbed off with a micro fiber "tack cloth" and then blown off with my compressor (yes, there's a water filter on the line for the blow gun.

I read somewhere that maple tends to blotch when being stained, although I don't think that natural Watco could be considered a stain, not like the tinted mixes.

One recommendation was to give the entire piece a "wash coat" of shellac to seal the wood. I really don't want to do this as I'm not sure I'll live to see the Da*n thing finished.

I REALLY NEED HELP OR THERE'S GOING TO BE A VERY EXPENSIVE MAPLE FIRE FOLLOWED BY A TREMENDUS TOOL SALE

In need of a bail out,

Bruce

[Ken Massingale]

My usual suggestion, Bruce.
A coat or 2 of Zinsser Sealcoat. It drys real fast. May want to cut it to a 1 lb. cut.

Disclaimer: I haven't used it myself with Danish Oil, but Michael Dresdner
says it's o.k., and he certainly knows a lot more than I do.

[cabinetman]

Bruce

There are many factors to consider when doing the oil type finishes. Personally, I like the oil finishes over film, but there is always the time clock I have to watch. Starting off with the sanding, some hardwoods sanded to a higher grit, like 220 or 320, don't take the finish as well as if sanded with 150 or 180. Next, I use a wood conditioner like this on some woods. Using a cut shellac can be as detrimental as it is helpful. What you don't want to do is to use a formula that will keep stain from penetrating evenly. A washcoat of shellac will react to the soft grain differently than the harder sections. My luck with the shellac hasn't been all that great. I get "layered" differentials from the overlappng, and when cut down, dries very fast. So, using shellac does work, you just need to be careful.

"Danish Oil" is basically a blend of BLO, solvents and resins (varnish). I usually make my own but use Tung Oil instead, and thin with VM&P Naptha, or mineral spirits. Adding the varnish adds some film quality to the oil. The Tung Oil won't darken the wood as does the BLO. So, you can create your own "special mix" of "Danish Oil" and take it to a level that you want, even with the tints, for a lot less money

You can use a double boiler and melt paraffin into the oil mix for a slicker finish, or just do the oil and a good paste wax. I get better results in minding the steps of oiling. The first few applications that are thinned for wiping should be wiped off after there has been absorption, but before it starts to dry causing gummy spots. Finally, by the time you use full strength, you're there when it doesn't look like it's penetrating, and when it finally gets wiped down the luster is there.

[Black wallnut]

I'll echo what Cabinetman said. It is likely that you have burnished the wood by sanding with too fine of a grit. The harder a wood is the coarser your final grit should be.

[Bruce Cohen]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the help, lately it seem I need all I can get. Must be the location of the planets.

So, if I understans Cab and Mark correctly, the final sanding, using 220 both with a Dewalt ROS and a finishing up by hand with the 220 on a hard cork block is too much "of a good thing".

Should I go over the project using 180 as the final grade?.

It certainly seems to be faster and easier to re-sand then to use a sealer or washcoat.

The desk will not be stained, just the natural coloration of the Watco is what the daughter decided on and I agree. As I mentioned in my initial post, I've used Watco before and have been very satisfied with the final results. Especially after the polish.

As this is my first time working with hard Maple, I usually work in Cherry, Ash and a bunch of assorted tropicals, I'm familar with these woods and how they finish, where as Maple is totally alien to me.

Once again, much thanks for the help, and not mentioning anything about screwing up the same way five times.

Bruce

[cabinetman]

Should I go over the project using 180 as the final grade?.

It certainly seems to be faster and easier to re-sand then to use a sealer or washcoat.

The desk will not be stained, just the natural coloration of the Watco is what the daughter decided on and I agree. As I mentioned in my initial post, I've used Watco before and have been very satisfied with the final results. Especially after the polish.

As this is my first time working with hard Maple, I usually work in Cherry, Ash and a bunch of assorted tropicals, I'm familar with these woods and how they finish, where as Maple is totally alien to me.

Maple is a very hard and dense wood with a wild grain. Since you have your oiling down pat, take a few samples and do each one in a different grit, start to finish, so you can see the results before you do the desk. You may find out that you can bypass the washcoat, and sanding wet. Samples are the way to go, and keep notes on each one as to what was done. Have fun.

[gwyneth]

c-man, thanks for the Daly's link...interesting stuff.

[JimD]

I made my daughter a bedroom set of maple (I started using all hard but then relented for the drawers when I found some figured boards of soft maple that were priced the same as the straight grain boards). I must admit I did not consider an oil finish. I used linseed oil to bring out the grain in some jewelry boxes and a gunstock of figured maple, however, and then put lacquer on the jewelry boxes and wipe-on poly on the gunstock over the oil.

Anyway, that is my limited finishing experience with maple. What I prefer is what I did on the bedroom set. I used wipe on poly. It is the easiest. I think the fact that it penetrates less helps to avoid the blotchy appearance. The tendency towards figured grain in maple is both a plus and a minus. The plus is when you get the nice pieces that you want to make prominant in the final piece. The minus is the difficulty in planning and in the tendency towards uneven appearance in even relatively unfigured boards. Avoiding oil finishes for straight grained boards works for me. The wipe on poly still brought out the figure in the drawer fronts - just not as much as oil would have.

Jim

[Bruce Cohen]

A follow-up on the desk that doesn't want to get finished

I took Cab and Mark's advice, I re-sanded (dowsanded) using 180 as final. Just about have the first coat of Watco on all the pieces. NO BLOTCHES.

Thanks guys, now if I can get one of you to NY to finish this monument to my speedy construction

Bruce

I couldn't have done it without your help.