Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Walnut Oil
John Lucas
>This is the first time I've tried using Walnut oil. Do you all have any tips. It's a piece of Ambrosia Maple. It has spots that soak up the oil and look dull. It's not rotten in those areas and it's not end grain. Should I just keep applying oil until these areas quit soaking in.
Re: Walnut Oil
Doug
>John I am certainly no expert but my experience has been to use 5 or more coats letting it set for a day or two between coats. After about three coats it comes to life and only gets better with more coats. I don't know if it is necessary but I rub it with bronze wool between the first three coats.
Re: Walnut Oil
Ron Sardo in PA
>I've always treated danish oil, BLO and walnut oil about the same. If it looks like it needs more oil I give it more oil.
Side note: I like to warm up BLO a bit.
Re: Walnut Oil
John Lucas
>Ron
That could be part of my problem. This time of year it's hard to get my shop above 50. John
Re: Walnut Oil
Ron Sardo in PA
>Years past when gunsmiths used BLO on riflestock they would warm the oil in their palms and hand rub the oil into the stock. They would repeat this over a course of days. I recently tried this on a curly maple vase. I mounted the vase on the lathe, the warmth on my hands and the friction of the spinning wood worked quite well to create some warmth.
Re: Walnut Oil
Clay Reeves
>I use walnut oil quite a bit. I like to let it set for about six weeks after the first two coats. That way it will dry before I apply the next coat, allowing me to get a faster build ro a nice finish. Two weeks is long enough for the second coat in most cases as the sealing action of the first coat keeps the penetration of the second to shallower levels. The third coat may be dry in 5 to 10 days. A warm dry area with little dust helps things along.
Re: Walnut Oil
John Cahall
>Whee do you get your walnut oil? Is it a special concentrated solution? Thanks.
Re: Walnut Oil
William R. Duffield, on the Cohansey
>I buy Loriva brand, in the salad oil section, at the grocery store. It's pure, raw walnut oil. Be careful, there are other brands that are a lot more expensive, and are substantially adulterated with cheaper, non-hardening oils. Read the list of ingredients.
I've been told you can get it in larger quantities, mail order, from health food places, at a lower cost per gallon.
Re: Walnut Oil
Dinyar Chavda
>John:
Therewasa previous post on this subject. The only way that I know to get you there (so that you can see all the messages) is by asking you to do a Search (you'll find that towards the top of the page), and then in hte box that says "posted in last 2 weeks, change it to last 2 YEARS. Go down to Messages containing ANY of the following keywords, and change it to "ALL" of the keywords.
In the box under it, insert he following (copy and paste to get it exactly), "Walnut oil finish help russ"---leave out the quotes. And then hit searhc messages---wel, don't hit it, just click on it, and it should take you to the thread which discussed Walnut Oil, and provided details as to where to find it.
I apologize to you if I have made the computer instructions too simple for you, but there may be others who are not WoodCentral computer-familiar.
Dinyar
Re: Walnut Oil
Jim Pugh in Ohio
>Mike Mahoney uses walnut oil (he has a mix that he sells) and said that for the most part, store bought oil has been too refined and doesn't work well. He gets his directly from some place in California. I think this might be the place:
Woodland Nut Oils
Filtered oil
ask for Nonnie Cooms (503)662-3027
Re: Walnut Oil
Peter Teubel
>A fellow at work, who is quite adept at finishing, warms BLO to 130 degrees before application. Seems to make a difference because his finishes are spectacular (flat wood stuff).
Heating Walnut Oil
Russ Fairfield
>Like all other oil finishes, Walnut Oil responds to heat. The heat makes it thinner so it will penetrate deeper into the wood; but it will also shorten its cure time. Don't heat a large quantity because it will also shorten the life of what is left in the container and not used. Those little coffee-cup warmer plates are good for heating small quantities of finish.
A better solution on a cold day is to warm the wood in the kitchen oven on LOWEST temperature or WARM setting. Use 120F if there is a temperature control. The warm wood will do the same thing as heating the oil and not waste any oil. If the shop is cold, bring the Oil into the house and keep it at room temperature until you are ready to use it.
Something about Oil finishes that has been forgotten over the years is that, they like to be rubbed. The rubbing action with the bare hands for 15 or 20 minutes will do more for shortening the curing time and improving the quality of the finish than anything else we can do to it. The warmth from the rubbing brings the oil to the surface and makes it cure faster. The result is that there will be more oil on the surface that would take several coats if you were to apply it and leave it. Walnut and Tung Oil respond better than the others to the "hand rubbed finish".
There has always been an argument about whether Walnut Oil turns rancid or not. Pure Walnut Oil will start to "gel" in the container faster than other oils. Many folks think this is "rancid", but there is nothing wrong with the oil other than it is starting to cure. Real "rancid" will have a terrible smell and taste.
While a good property for a finish, curing in the container is not a good property for a Salad Oil. Therefore the Oil on the grocery store shelves has been refined, distilled, and had preservatives added to it to prevent this from happening. Even though it says "100% pure" on the label, most of the grocery store Walnut Oil is a Salad Oil that has been refined to prevent it from curing. That is why we should be using Oil that is either raw or filtered, with no other processing. The refined oil may still cure into a finish, but it can take a long time.