Walnut Oil Finish

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

David Walser

Supermarket walnut oils will cure, but it may take a long time. The walnut oils sold as a wood finish (Doctor's Woodshop and Mahoney's are examples) have been heat treated to speed up the curing. Even so, it can take some time for walnut oil finishes to cure. How long will depend on temperature, humidity, and the amount of UV light.

For this reason, I prefer to apply the finish on the lathe as if it were a friction polish. The heat from the friction helps to cure the finish. Applied in this manner, in my shop, most items are dry to the touch within 3 days -- usually well before that. But, I live in Mesa, Arizona and it tends to be both dryer and hotter here than most other parts of the country.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Don Stephan

Several years ago I finished a bowl with one of the woodturning walnut oils per the instructions. After a week it was still leaving an oily ring on the shelf. Gave the bottle to a friend and switched to P&L 38 alkyd varnish.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Ron Solfest

Uh-Oh...not feeling confident about the bowls and platters I put walnut oil on...hopefully it cures...

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Reed Gray

Usually takes a week or so. Sunlight/UV light helps speed things up, and a 40 watt light bulb under them for a few days helps too. Salad type walnut oils curing time can vary hugely.

robo hippy

The best feature of Walnut.....

JamieDonaldson

......Oil is to discard it and use better working oil finishes like Minwax Wiping Poly! When customers hear anything about nut oils on user turnings it is a disincentive to buy the product, too many scary stories of nut allergies.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Peter Toch

The single greatest factor in the speed of curing of an oil finish is temperature, the warmer the faster. On rare occasions I have come across oil finishes that seemed to refuse to cure at room temperature (~70 deg. F). What has worked for me every time is to cure this oil in my oven (best if done when wife is not at home) at approximately 170-180 deg. F for a few hours. During this heating process you must wipe off any excess oil that will "bleed" out of the wood with a paper towel about every 15 minutes. Continue wiping off the excess oil until the piece stops "bleeding." If you don't wipe off the excess oil it will cure on the surface leaving "spotty glossy" areas that will need to be sanded off. Continue heating for a couple of hours after the "bleeding" has stopped, let cool to room temperature, lightly sand the surface and switch to an oil that you have previously tested for curing properties.

P.S. At these low oven temperatures there really is no ill effects to the oven, however suggest you set work piece on a piece of aluminum foil.

Thanks, Peter Toch

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Bill Blasic

I sure wonder what I'm doing wrong as I use Mahoney Walnut Oil and have no problem with it drying. Put it on, wipe it off and set the object on a board with three nails. No problem with feel, rings and have had no complaints. Plus I can give the customer a little bottle of the oil to refresh when needed.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Dennis in Southern Oregon

I ran an experiment a couple of years ago with three supermarket oils plus Mahoneys. I applied each to strips of paper towel. (Makes it easy to tell when the oil is dry because the paper gets crisp). After nearly three months in a dark warm closet, none were dry. Repeating the experiment with strips hung in south facing window, all were dry within thrree days. I saw no obvious difference in the drying times of the oils. BTW, one of the oils was the one you used.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Barry Irby

Somebody mentioned UV as a factor. I have the eyeglasses that darken in the sun. They don't darken inside the car with the windows rolled up. Apparently automotive glass filters out the UV or whatever. Does ordinary window glass do the same thing? Might be better to set the pieces in direct sunlight, if the window glass filters UV and UV is a factor.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

David Walser

No, ordinary window glass doesn’t filter out UV light. That’s why my mother was worried about her carpets fading if the drapes weren’t closed. However, like your car windows, many house windows have a form of UV protection. It’s something we looked for when replacing our windows a few years ago. Still, the protection isn’t total. Placing the item in the sun light — even if filtered through a modern double pane window — will speed up the curing process.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Barry Irby

Ah yes, Low-E glass. It's gotten to be so common I forgot. The older stuff did not have it. I will have to play with my glasses in front of some newer and older windows.

Allergies are caused by proteins

Jorge

not by lipids, s there is no danger using walnut oil. I don't remember the source of this info, dig deep in the archives. When I started to turn bowls seriously I did my search and asked people, Russ told me about walnut oil, the local health food store carries "saveurs de terre" brand (yes it is a french product), and their walnut oil is roasted, so it was heat treated in the process. It dries to the touch in minutes and it is fully polymerized in a day.

I am glad I did follow Russ's advice, 1800 bowls later I am still using it, and never had a complaint.

Use sparingly, a thin coat, wait 10 or 15 minutes, with the same rag wipe excess while spinning.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Pete Kekel

I've never had a drying problem with it either, but, like Jamie, don't like to have to explain to people that it's really okay, don't worry about that nut allergy thing that almost killed you last time Aunt Flora forgot to mention she added nuts to the turkey stuffing. Plus, I think the walnut oil is more yellow than I want when finishing a nice, clear piece of Ambrosia that has a lot of contrast between the wood and beetle markings. Or Box Elder.

Re: Walnut Oil Finish

Mike Jones

Remember---ALL nut and seed oils will become rancid in time. The chemical process of rancidification exchanges one chemical element for another, and the older the walnut oil, the slower the cure time.

Walnut oil will yellow if and when it cures (polymerizes). Don't take my word for it. Do a couple of simple tests in your own shop, then decide if you want to use it in place of a real finish.

Test (1) Look for a product date on the label. ("Best used by_____" date.) the fresher the better.

Test (2) put a capful of your walnut oil on a clean white cloth, save it, and wait. Check on it after 6 months and again in a year or so. Is the yellowing ok with you?

Test (3) Taste it. A couple of drops is all it takes. If it does not taste good, and a yucky flavor that is slow to go away is experienced, it has rancidified and the polymerization will be retarded.

Yeah, your oil has been "heat-treated". At the plant they use heat to drive off the solvents (often Hexane, a lot like gasoline) used to get the last drop of oil out of the broken and miscolored meats. The process does not improve the performance of the oil in any way. Cold Pressed walnut oil, is considered to be superior---for salads, or for salad bowls.

Happy Holidays to all!