Danish Oil on Alder wood - Natural or coloured?

slyd

Hi
I'm going to be doing a Danish Oil finish on a naked Squier strat.
Now, down in Margate here, obtaining the stuff is difficult, and although I can get the Natural, it's only in 1 litre at R200! I can also get Golden Oak, and Light Walnut a bit cheaper.
Any thoughts on this??
The guitar is Alder, and Alan tells me this is a closed pore wood. I like the look of the Golden Oak on the colour swab, but .....????
HELP ???
Urgent!

AlanRatcliffe

Go for a coloured version - it'll help mask the colour difference between the laminates.

slyd

Any thoughts on which coloured oil; Golden Oak, or Light Walnut?
The Walnut seems very "brownie"?

Tonedef

Walnut stain is dark brown, the oil is probably lighter but id still go for the lighter of the two colours, you can always go darker but going lighter is a nightmare. Like too much salt in your potjie, once its in its in.

slyd

Well . . . I've now bought the Golden Oak.
Let's see what we get . . . ?
Thanks for the input ?

nicovlogg

Post pics please! Keen on checking it out myself.

slyd

HELP! HELP! HELP!
Aaarrrgghh! >☹
I've now done 2 applications of the oil, but there is uneven penetration of the wood.
The extensivley researched method (for closed pore wood) that I used was:
"Prepare the surface to be finished.
Flood the surface with Watco.
Spread the finish evenly using your applicator (paper towel, lint-free cloth, old t-shirt.)
After a 15 minutes or so, flood the surface again. Spread the finish evenly using the applicator.
After a few minutes, wipe off excess. On open grain woods like oak, check the finish periodically for wet spots and wipe them away. These wet spots can "erupt" from the wood's pores and grain for hours (even days)!
Allow to dry, normally 24 hours. You can end up with a tacky finish if you apply a coat on top of a coat that is not adequately dry.
Repeat Steps 2 through 6 until you reach desired depth and sheen you're after. "
Check it out, and PLEASE HELP. What NOW? Should I wet sand the oil, slit my wrists . . . ??? ☹

nicovlogg

What I could recommend and what worked for me is using very fine steel wool inbetween coats. Was your wood properly clean before you started? Also remember that you need loads more coats for a nice finish - I'd say about 8 or so.

slyd

Yeah, wood was really clean before starting.

nicovlogg

Try the fine steel wool out - if that doesn't work then maybe phone Hardware Centre and ask there?

slyd

Is that using the steel wool after drying, or with oil? ???

Tonedef

The uneven spottiness aside, might I add that that is looking pretty damned nice!

Just keep the coats coming and give it time. The wood on the bevel may have been affected by the manufacturing process, heat or whatnot maybe.

Tonedef

I just figured out why it's doing that, too.

The darker bits are looking down the grain of the wood, ie if the axe was a pipe, you're looking down the pipe where the bevel is. The texture is different for obvious reasons, it's not like they bent the wood to get the bevel.

Just keep the oil going.

slyd

Tonedef
You have just put the first ray of sunlight on my miserable day. I've been all down and sad cos of the uneven penetration.
You obviously use optimistic eyes ?

Tonedef

I'll put money on this - the butt of the axe is as dark if not darker than the bevel, and it will be evenly dark until it starts wrapping around the top and bottom rear arcs, where it will become light again.

Amirite? Show us a pic.

nicovlogg

Let me just tell you my process, it was for pine, but it produced a very even (although not glossy) finish.

Apply oil thickly with steel wool. Give it about 10 minutes, rub excess off with steel wool, buff with dry cotton cloth. Leave for a day. Repeat * 10 approximately, then 2 coats one in a week, then last coat after a month. Worked like a charm. For the later coats I didn't use steel wool.

FORGOT to add - this might help - your first coats should be a little diluted. Use white spirits to first clean up the guitar, then to thin out your oil. Start with a 1:3 thinning (spirits?il), then gradually reduce the spirit till by your 5th coat or so you're using pure oil.

slyd

@Tonedef
Here's a pic of the butt 8)

@nicovlogg - thanks for the input

slyd

Hey well, I did a bit of the steel wool thang . . . . eeewww!
I will have to accept that the mismatched laminates have certain defects in the wood, and just keep on coating!! ?
I'm sure this is certainly going to be pre-relic'ed guitar, and all the different oil effects will add to the character 8)
I will keep you informed as we go . . . .

MikeM

I can vouch that Nico's guitar looks and more importantly feels amazing, so it's definitely not his process/technique ?

slyd

MikeM wrote: I can vouch that Nico's guitar looks and more importantly feels amazing

I never doubted that for a second!

MikeM wrote: so it's definitely not his process/technique ?

hehe ?

But, back to the danish oil, using a jewellers eyeglass on the lighter areas of stain, I can see the fibre structure of the wood is much more compact than the rest, thus the differences in absorbancy (what do I know?)! After a bunch more coats, It's gonna look great, warts an' all :yup:
@Tonedef - thanks for putting a positive spin on the project ? (ruff day)
Pics will follow . . . .thanx all
Dave