I built a shelf unit. I've been trying to match a color more or less. I think I have that part on track. I've been mixing some dyes and I'm getting close. While I've been fooling around with that I've also been trying out some finishing methods.
I did manage to come up with a finish that looks pretty good to me, but via a completely half-assed route. I'll recount what I did, and maybe some (hopefully) gentle soul can tell me how I can do it more sensibly.
I dyed the wood (red oak) with a mixture of some Rockler Trans-Tint and some aniline dye powder, dissolved in alcohol. I used straight alcohol due to lack of time. I wanted to try out the color without doing the "raise the grain" step.
A week later I applied some Minwax Tung Oil Finish. I did what they said: Apply, wait 5-10 minutes, "buff". Result: Very slight visible "finish". The buffing seemed to remove a lot of the "oil", or whatever it actually is.
The next evening I repeated the Minwax procedure. Same result, more or less. It didn't seem to build up much of a finish. In addition, I was surprised to see that the cloth I was using picked up a little of the dye color, even on the second coat. I decided to see what would happen if I applied the Minwax product and just left it there.
I looked at it the next night. No surprise. It was quite glossy. Too glossy for my taste. I used some steel wool on it to take down the gloss. I don't know the "grade" of steel wool. I bought it eons ago for another project.
I then decided to apply some Butcher's Wax Bowling Alley Paste. (also lying around the garage for a while) Rubbed some on. Too much, I suspect. Waited ten minutes or so. Buffed it with a T-Shirt.
Here's what I like about the result: There's no obvious "thickness" to the finish, like poly can tend to have. It just looks like really smooth medium lustre wood and you can really see the color and grain.
I think I like the idea of an oil finish as opposed to poly, and the wax really gave the scrap piece a nice sheen. But I suspect that this Minwax product is not that great.
I also wonder about the "buffing". I did it by hand on the scrap but the whole piece, while not overly large, will require a fair amount of elbow grease. I saw a couple of drill attachments online. One was a brush, the other a pad of some kind. Are any of these any good? Does the "rotary" nature of these gadgets leave unattractive patterns in the wax? Was the T-Shirt a good choice, or should I have used a chamois or something else?
Responses that use words like "novice" rather than "idiot" would be much appreciated.
Greg Guarino