varnish on top of linseed oil

Torge wrote:
> a friend is making a low wooden stool to sit on. he is using oak and seems
> very keen to put linseed oil on it, which he says will bring out the grain.
>
> since this stool will go on to a japanese type padded mat, i dont want a
> greasy finish on it. he says that i could put a water based semi matt clear
> varnish on it, on top of the linseed oil. can this be right? putting
> varnish onto linseed oil seems a bit strange to me. if its not right could
> anyone advise me on what kind of varnish to put on top of the oak please.

It's a bit strange to me too. In the first place you would be defeating
the purpose. Linseed oil is great by it's self. When the surface gets
scratched, you just apply more oil and the scratch will be unnoticed.
Linseed oil is great for the wood. It will keep it from cracking.
Linseed oil does dry out in time and you will need to clean the surface
and apply more of it.

Personally, I would use a Poly finish. It is a tough finish and will
last for years.

Torge wrote:
> a friend is making a low wooden stool to sit on. he is using oak and seems
> very keen to put linseed oil on it, which he says will bring out the grain.
>
> since this stool will go on to a japanese type padded mat, i dont want a
> greasy finish on it. he says that i could put a water based semi matt clear
> varnish on it, on top of the linseed oil. can this be right? putting
> varnish onto linseed oil seems a bit strange to me. if its not right could
> anyone advise me on what kind of varnish to put on top of the oak please.

It's a bit strange to me too. In the first place you would be defeating
the purpose. Linseed oil is great by it's self. When the surface gets
scratched, you just apply more oil and the scratch will be unnoticed.
Linseed oil is great for the wood. It will keep it from cracking.
Linseed oil does dry out in time and you will need to clean the surface
and apply more of it.

Personally, I would use a Poly finish. It is a tough finish and will
last for years.

Torge wrote:
> a friend is making a low wooden stool to sit on. he is using oak and seems
> very keen to put linseed oil on it, which he says will bring out the grain.
>
> since this stool will go on to a japanese type padded mat, i dont want a
> greasy finish on it. he says that i could put a water based semi matt clear
> varnish on it, on top of the linseed oil. can this be right? putting
> varnish onto linseed oil seems a bit strange to me. if its not right could
> anyone advise me on what kind of varnish to put on top of the oak please.

It's a bit strange to me too. In the first place you would be defeating
the purpose. Linseed oil is great by it's self. When the surface gets
scratched, you just apply more oil and the scratch will be unnoticed.
Linseed oil is great for the wood. It will keep it from cracking.
Linseed oil does dry out in time and you will need to clean the surface
and apply more of it.

Personally, I would use a Poly finish. It is a tough finish and will
last for years.

In article <[email protected]>,
Torge <[email protected]> wrote:
>a friend is making a low wooden stool to sit on. he is using oak and seems
>very keen to put linseed oil on it, which he says will bring out the grain.
>
>since this stool will go on to a japanese type padded mat, i dont want a
>greasy finish on it. he says that i could put a water based semi matt clear
>varnish on it, on top of the linseed oil. can this be right? putting
>varnish onto linseed oil seems a bit strange to me. if its not right could
>anyone advise me on what kind of varnish to put on top of the oak please.
>
>

I do this frequently when using water based poly or varnish. The water
based does very little to bring out the grain. DAMHIKT, but the
important thing is to make sure that the BLO is well cured before the
WB is applied. Wait at least a full 24 hours after the BLO app, I like
to wait 48 just to be sure.

Incidentally, my experience with BLO on (red) oak is that it darkens
the wood substantially. I like it myself, but if your friend may want
to experiment on scrap before applying to the stool.


--

Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland
[email protected]

Torge wrote:
> a friend is making a low wooden stool to sit on. he is using oak
> and seems very keen to put linseed oil on it, which he says will
> bring out the grain.
>
> since this stool will go on to a japanese type padded mat, i dont
> want a greasy finish on it. he says that i could put a water based
> semi matt clear varnish on it, on top of the linseed oil. can
> this be right? putting varnish onto linseed oil seems a bit
> strange to me. if its not right could anyone advise me on what
> kind of varnish to put on top of the oak please.

Using oil based varnished will do the same thing for the grain as
would linseed oil.

When using linseed oil - or any oil finish - one wipes off the excess
that hasn't soaked in within 30 minutes or so and the remainder dries.
IOW, it isn't greasy and a top coat - even a water based one - can be
applied after the oil is thoroughly dried.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

In article <[email protected]>, vacuous632
@voidacious.net says...
> Subject: varnish on top of linseed oil
> From: Torge <[email protected]>
> Newsgroups: rec.woodworking
>
> a friend is making a low wooden stool to sit on. he is using oak and seems
> very keen to put linseed oil on it, which he says will bring out the grain.
>
> since this stool will go on to a japanese type padded mat, i dont want a
> greasy finish on it. he says that i could put a water based semi matt clear
> varnish on it, on top of the linseed oil. can this be right? putting
> varnish onto linseed oil seems a bit strange to me. if its not right could
> anyone advise me on what kind of varnish to put on top of the oak please.
>

I cannot vouch for water based varnish, but you can definitely put oil/turps
based polyurethane over a linseed oil finish. Been there, done that, many
times.

-Peter

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Torge <[email protected]> wrote:
>>a friend is making a low wooden stool to sit on. he is using oak and seems
>>very keen to put linseed oil on it, which he says will bring out the
>>grain.
>>
>>since this stool will go on to a japanese type padded mat, i dont want a
>>greasy finish on it. he says that i could put a water based semi matt
>>clear
>>varnish on it, on top of the linseed oil. can this be right? putting
>>varnish onto linseed oil seems a bit strange to me. if its not right
>>could
>>anyone advise me on what kind of varnish to put on top of the oak please.
>>
>>
>
> I do this frequently when using water based poly or varnish. The water
> based does very little to bring out the grain. DAMHIKT, but the
> important thing is to make sure that the BLO is well cured before the
> WB is applied. Wait at least a full 24 hours after the BLO app, I like
> to wait 48 just to be sure.
>
> Incidentally, my experience with BLO on (red) oak is that it darkens
> the wood substantially. I like it myself, but if your friend may want
> to experiment on scrap before applying to the stool.
>
>
> --
>
> Larry Wasserman Baltimore, Maryland
> [email protected]
>

I agree -- TEST

Be aware, BLO, and other oil finishes, there is dry to touch time and cure
time. Dry to touch is something like 24 hours, but cure time can take weeks
and weeks with red oak because of wide and big wood cells. You don't need
full cure time to apply varnish top coat(s.) But you do need to check and
wipe down any seepage of BLO during drying time, and the 24 hours clock gets
reset to zero if any seepage occurs (this is because of large wood cellular
structure in red oak exposed during sawing and sanding will fill up with BLO
and drain out during drying.)

Phil S.