Watco Teak Oil

[Leon]

Third time may be a charm. Fortunatley I am better at cutting wood than posting. ;~(

[RonB]

daughter's family has two Danes and an English Mastiff. Part-time house dogs. Well behaved but anything at tail height is in danger (lamps, pictures, drink glasses, vases, chins....)

[nailshooter41]

The BLO I have is about 15 years old or so. I don't use it unless I am making a witches brew of my own or experimenting. My can doesn't have any instructions on it.

I am surprised it says to use turpentine. The best thinner (although others work) for BLO is Naptha, or VM&P, which is a different blend of Naptha.

Specifically, the difference between using out of the can thinned as per your instructions wouldn't yield much difference than the Watco formula.

They Watco will have a lot more driers in it though to make it harder and dry faster. BLO in itself has very little. The reason you thin BLO out of the can is to make it easier to apply. But when you do that, you cut the amount of drier/hardener down by as much as you thin, resulting in a longer curing, probably inferior end product.

It would be inferior only in the respect that it doesn't cure out as hard. At least with the Watco you get a tiny bit of protection. With plain BLO you get almost none.

Of course, the solution would be to add a metallic drier.

But then you would have homemade Watco, right? It would just cost 1/2 as much.

My point was (agreeing in essence with you) that you could make the stuff as needed with products you have on hand with no reason to buy it.

Robert

[Nonny]

I really appreciate this discussion and am learning a lot. Thanks

[Leon]

(lamps, pictures, drink glasses, vases, chins....)

Yeah, that goes with the breed. Our current Dane is 35" at the sholder so she is a big one especially for a female. Our previous Dane was big but considerably smaller at only 98 lbs. This one is 115 lbs.

[Max]

Aw, Leon, that is a pretty piece of work. Very nice.

Max

[Lew Hodgett]

-------------------------------------- Maybe it my memories as a young kid when the smell of turps meant the painter was using the good stuff, not some cheap thinner.

No rhyme nor reason to it, justy one of those things you pick up as a kid.

I've always liked the smell of turps.

Next time you are in a hardware store or a Home Depot, check out a can of current BLO.

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------------------------------------- That's what I thought.

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------------------------------------- Sounds about right.

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------------------------------------------ That's what I thought.

I probably am getting away with something, but I got hooked on white oak finished with BLO, followed up by a personal "sheep dip" mix of bees wax, wipe on, wipe off and buff out.

Gives a color that just grabs me.

None of the pieces I've made are exposed to anything wet such as drink glasses, etc.

The "sheep dip" is nothing more than 2 parts wax, 1 part BLO, 2 parts turps.

Don't ask me why, just seemed to be the thing to do.

Place contents in a 1 lb coffee can, place can in a pan of water and heat on stove until wax melts, then mix and let cool.

If "dip" is too stiff, repeat process adding more turps.

Keep plastic lid on coffee can when storing.

Lew

[Paw]

Good one, Nailshooter. It was a slip of the tung. I didn't mean to say teak oil but rather meant to say tung oil. Sorry. -Paw

[nailshooter41]

Sir, I am with you all the way. And even though I don't use linseed oil, I am reminded of the old days if applying the old oil based varnishes when I smell BLO. It just smells old fashioned, and in some strange way "comfortable". When I was a kid, my Dad used to put that stuff on everything EXCEPT his wood projects.

His Dad owned a part of a hardware store for a while, and they put that stuff on tool handles, wiped thin coats of it on carbon bladed tools like shovels, axes, machetes, etc. to keep them from rusting, and on and on.

I loved that smell.

When my Dad would put some finish on one of his projects (he HATED every single moment of finishing, and that day was put off as long as possible) he always used varnish. He did that all the way through the

60s and then off and on until he quit doing any woodwork.

Since I am obviously a kind of info junkie, I will indeed do that. Inquiring minds, you know....

Lew, I think you were divining the spirit of old Sam Maloof. This is a variation on his own recipe, and it has stood the test of time. I have never tried it myself, but having talked to people that have, they love it. It isn't terribly durable or abrasion resistant, but it has that old fashioned feel to it. And a big plus, it is as easy to repair as a few swipes with more material.

From one of my finishing sites that posted the Maloof mix (it is sold by Rockler if you don't care to make it yourself):

********************* Mix 2 handfuls of shredded beeswax to equal parts of boiled linseed oil and raw tung oil. Heat the mixture in a double-boiler on an electric hotplate just until the wax melts. Due to the volatile nature of the ingredients, brew your mixture outdoors. When cooled, the mixture should have the consistency of heavy cream. ******************* Later, Sam says that if you don't have the consistency you want, to thin it by warming your mix up a bit and add real turpentine (NOT mineral spirits or thinner) until you get the right consistency.

Look familiar? I'm telling you, you channeled him!

Mr. Maloof always used wipe on finishes, and he had a couple of other home brews he used that mixed down long oil varnishes, or BLO resin to make them wipe on applications. These were developed after there was evidence that his paste stuff didn't hold up well on tables.

To continue the home brew wipe on business, these notes are from another of finishing sites. I copied them from somewhere... don't know where that was.

******************* The most common boiled linseed oil (BLO) based recipes are as follows:

1. 1 part BLO + 1 part raw Tung Oil (not Waterlox, Dalys, or other tung oils containing resin additives) + 1 part Semi-Gloss urethene varnish (This is a Sam Maloof finish recipe)
2. 1 part BLO + 1 part Turpentine
3. 1 part BLO + 1 part Turpentine + 1 part varnish
4. 2 to 3 parts BLO + 1 part Turpentine
5. 1 part BLO + 1 part Turpentine + 1 part Beeswax (mixed over electric element outdoors)
6. 2 to 3 parts BLO + 1 part Turpentine + 3 parts Beeswax (mixed over electric element outdoors)
7. 2 parts BLO + 1 part Mineral Spirits + 2 to 3 parts Beeswax (mixed over electric element outdoors)
8. 1 part BLO + 3 parts blond shellac

• 2 parts polyurethene

********************* I have another finish brew made with these same ingredients that I use for my woodturning projects that is applied while the project is on the lathe. It burns on at high speed and the heat from friction cures it, so there is no mess or waiting for it to dry.

Just no end to this stuff, eh?

Robert

[Lew Hodgett]

SFWIW

When it came time to buy some bees wax, went looking locally.

I must have looked like I just fell off the turnip truck

Jumped on the web and found a guy back in Ohio (Less than 20 miles from where I grew up) who was willing to put a pound of bees wax on my doorstep (2,500 miles), including shipping costs, for less than the locals were quoting for just the wax.

Goes ta show ya.

BTW, might just might get some Epifanes and make some "Super Sheep Dip" someday.

Still have some pure wax left

Lew

[Leon]

Thank you!