Help with finish over *lot* of Organoil

I've a redgum slab, 18"x36"x6" that I'm making into a coffee table. The slab had been sitting in an open-sided hay-shed for a couple of decades, so I decided to store it in my workshop for 12 months just to be sure. Recent events have shown I needn't have worried...

I recently thicknessed it to size, sanding down to 400 grit in preparation for a finish of Organoil's Hard Burnishing Oil. A demonstrator at our club recently showed us the "best" method for application, so I faithfully followed his advice; brush on a light layer, wait 25-30 mins to let it soak in, add another light coat and then W&D sand to the final grit. He made a point of saying the resultant paste "is your fiend."

My problem? It's soaking up the oil so damned fast that I may as well be doing a dry sand; the oil's not staying on the surface long enough to develop a paste! The finish I'm ending up with is exactly what I'd expect from a piece of raw timber sanded down to the same grit. (1200, in this case) For comparison I dry sanded the legs (cut from the same slab) w/out any oil and the finish is identical apart from the darkening of the grain.

I waited a week and tried again, with no better luck and have since repeated this several times. I've used about 1/2 a can of the oil and it's still soaking in faster than I can get the sander to it. :(

I'm giving up on that approach, now I'm thinking of trying Tung Oil, or maybe a Danish. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe they're compatible with Organoil and that while Organoil requires the heat of the burnishing to cure, Tung will cure regardless? :confused:

I sorely hope so...

Whenever I've used the Hard Burnishing Oil I have followed their instructions and flooded the timber so that it becomes "saturated", then after a few hours apply a light coat and start burnishing. Maybe try applying in sections? Or give Organoil a ring/email. I've found them helpful and quick to respond to questions.

I was shown, and now apply organoil with a pad under a plam sander, as this adds heat to the application, but the material I work with is only thin.

Love to help more ( if I can ) but have to go to try to get some organoil company shares, looks like they might be in for a good year.






Useless infomation for the day

About a third of all Americans flush the toilet while they're still sitting on it.

Life is too short to be wasted using Organoil. Danish Oil, Nitro Lacquer, Pre-Cat Lacquer, 2-pac Poly. If you must use oil, then go with 3-4 coats of Danish Oil, leave for a week then a nice coat of Ubeaut Traditional wax. Danish Oil does darken most timbers somewhat, compared with spray on lacquer's, so keep that in mind..............my 4cents worth......

As slavo indicated your first coat should be a flood coat, meaning you keep puting the oil on till all the dry spots dissapear. On very old timber this could take a while as the timber has lost a lot of moisture so sucks in any liquide that is applied to it.
Once it is completely soaked and you have a cup of coffee then you have a look to see if it needs more. You have to have a wet look on the surface before you use the wet & dry otherwise you are just dry sanding and not creating any slurry.
Oiling timber is different to using any other finish in that it soaks into the timber to bring out the natural colors and features, it can soak in a couple of mm. All other finishes sit on top of the timber and do not get into the timber. That is why when you scratch the top you can go through to bare wood but with an oil finish you will still see the oiled top.

Organoil have clear and consise instructions for using their products. If you follow their instructions to the letter their products work as they are supposed to. They have spent a lot of time getting it right and putting these instructions down on paper for you to follow. Why? Because if you do it right then you might just come back for more.

If you deviate from their instructions or follow the advice of some self proclaimed guru you will more often than not have a failure.

Cheers - Neil :)

Ditto what Matrix said. But since you have a "base" of organoil, on overlying oil / poly mix like Danish will be OK. Look at Minwax wipe on poly. It had a good write-up, although I've not used it. Something that I know works well and is a Tung Oil / poly mix is Feast Watson Floorseal. Works a treat on table tops as well. Two coats with a 320 sand in-between. (I spray it on, but ragging / brushing works as well) Could later hit with some EEE Ultrashine.

Richard

Hmmm... the "flood" coat's where I'm having problems with this piece. Even after all these applications it's still soaking it in like a sponge; each subsequent coat was becoming heavier & heavier in an attempt to get a wet finish for sanding and it's becoming too expensive for what the project is.

I had tried both Tung and Danish on small sections of the underside, they're both looking good so far but I was concerned about them in the long term over the Organoil base. It looks like Danish is the way I'll be heading this time and time will tell the rest.

Thanks for the feedback fellas!