Question

[Nonprophet]

I already posted this in the general forum but I thought it might be more appropriate for this one. Can anyone offer some advice?


I am finishing a set of knife scales made of Claro Walnut. I am hand rubbing boiled linseed oil cut with thinner. I want to know how shiny, or glossy a finish I can get with that? I want to get it to shine and not look flat if possible. Do I need to just do a load of coats and rub the crap out of it or is that not something I can do with boiled linseed? The wood soaked up the first coat really fast. Is there any technique or suggestion as to how to apply? I put a bunch on the first coat and it soaked it right up! Do I need to put a clear on it afterwards to get a shine? Help!


Also can I put a coat or two of BLO in to seal it and then use some other sort of oil that WILL buff up to a good shine and still soak in?

 

[Frank Niro]

I'm no longer ito the wood thing even though it can be very beautiful. From the past I remember warming the handle after applying the oil to help it soak in.

 

[Tiiiiiiiim]

I haven't using boiled linseed oil but most oils take a bit of a shine with a hard rub. Oils are good because you can sand up the timber to a really fine grit before oiling. So if you want a good smooth finish sand up your handle to the highest grit you have. I'd apply a liberal coat, let it soak for a while, rub off before it goes tacky (if it just soaks straight in no need to rub just re-apply). Leave it for an hour. Repeat until it doesn't look/feel "dry". Then you could try hit it with a buffer or give it a hard rub with a soft cloth.

On furniture sometimes we even give it a super light sand with fine grit in between oil coats after you've rubbed it down. Just to get rid of any fur.

 

[David Stifle]

I believe the most you will get with a linseed finish is a satin finish. Looks nice, but it won't take a high gloss. I like tung oil better.

Dave

 

[woodwrkr221]

I'm new to knife making, still working on my first, but when I'm building furniture I like to use a mixture of Tung Oil and gloss alkyd varnish hand rubbed on the wood. Gloss polyurethane varnish used in the mixture will work OK also.

The greater the percentage of varnish in the mixture the more the finish will build up on the surface of the wood. You could start with a mixture of 2/3 Tung Oil and 1/3 gloss alkyd varnish and experiment on some scrap walnut. Alter the ratio of Tung Oil/varnish and keep experimenting until you get the effect you're looking for.

Formby's and Minwax make some ready-mixed finishes that are essentially the same thing, I perfer the Formby's.

 

[Dmitry.M]

Depends on the density of the particular Walnut piece and how well you sanded it. If the piece is very dense and you went up to a 1000grit it will be shiny. A bit of carnauba wax will help a lot but it will wear off. In general the denser the wood the higher gloss it can be polished to.