Oil/Wax/Polish for Oak Chest

[Yellowtail]

I have an older golden oak machinist chest and base I want to clean it up. It's in good shape and has the original rubbed-oil finish, and I have mostly only ever cleaned/waxed it with Pledge furniture cleaner spray, but it seems to be getting a little dry and I want to try something that will provide a little more warmth and depth as well as a little more protection. I've had it in the house since I have retired and I think the AC is not good for it.

 

 I am thinking of  just just rubbing it out using an old undershirt and a 2-1 ratio of linseed oil and beeswax, but I've never worked much with wood and recommendations on good products available locally and or processes to get it whipped into shape would be appreciated.

 

The company that made the chest is still in business and they sell cleaner/finish but they are in the US so getting it here would be an issue. 

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

There are a few products that I use or will try. The first is Osmo that is probably the best, then you have Protego that is more of a film finish, lastly IKEA has a couple of different finishes that I haven’t tried yet that may do the job 

 

Osmo will have to be imported, you want the smallest size possible. Protego Is available from HomePro and Lazada it’s made in Thailand, the IKEA oils are available from?  ???????? there are 2 a cheaper one and a more expensive one, I’ve got the cheaper one to try.

 

I would NEVER let any kind of spray “polish” near my products unless it had a polyurethane (plastic) finish on it.

 

linseed oil needs to be boiled or it never cures and it is a film finish, with or without beeswax.

 

if you want a wax finish then beeswax and carnauba wax possibly with a little white sprite added to soften it will do the job.

Edited January 23, 2021 by sometimewoodworker

[prophet01]

My two-penne'th.

Rustins danish oil's always been my go to product for finishing my projects including my beautiful 25 year old Iroko hardwood kitchen worktop which I recently sanded down and re-oiled. Not sure if it's available in LOS but similar should be.

 

Check out this guy's video. Give him a few minutes to warm up.

danish oil application

 

A photo of the item would be helpful.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2021 by prophet01
for the same reason dogs lick their balls

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, prophet01 said:

My two-penne'th.

Rustins danish oil's always been my go to product for finishing my projects including my beautiful 25 year old Iroko hardwood kitchen worktop which I recently sanded down and re-oiled. Not sure if it's available in LOS but similar should be.

 

Check out this guy's video. Give him a few minutes to warm up.

danish oil application

 

A photo of the item would be helpful.

 

 

That is a film finish, from the OPs post not really what he’s looking for. 
Also like quite a few finishes every different brand has a different composition, so the results are different. Another point is that there are very few wiping finishes sold here, though you may be able to thin them enough to maintain the finish Integrity and convert a brush finish into a wiping one.

Edited January 24, 2021 by sometimewoodworker

[Yellowtail]

4 hours ago, prophet01 said:

My two-penne'th.

Rustins danish oil's always been my go to product for finishing my projects including my beautiful 25 year old Iroko hardwood kitchen worktop which I recently sanded down and re-oiled. Not sure if it's available in LOS but similar should be.

 

Check out this guy's video. Give him a few minutes to warm up.

danish oil application

 

A photo of the item would be helpful.

 

 

 

I'm not refinishing it, I just want to clean and protect it. I'll put up a pic a little later

[Yellowtail]

11 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

There are a few products that I use or will try. The first is Osmo that is probably the best, then you have Protego that is more of a film finish, lastly IKEA has a couple of different finishes that I haven’t tried yet that may do the job 

 

Osmo will have to be imported, you want the smallest size possible. Protego Is available from HomePro and Lazada it’s made in Thailand, the IKEA oils are available from?  ???????? there are 2 a cheaper one and a more expensive one, I’ve got the cheaper one to try.

 

I would NEVER let any kind of spray “polish” near my products unless it had a polyurethane (plastic) finish on it.

 

linseed oil needs to be boiled or it never cures and it is a film finish, with or without beeswax.

 

if you want a wax finish then beeswax and carnauba wax possibly with a little white sprite added to soften it will do the job.

 

Which Osmo product are you talking about? There seems to be quite a few.

 

What do you mean by "film coating" Aren't all coating a film?

 

 

[sometimewoodworker]

38 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

What do you mean by "film coating" Aren't all coating a film?

A film coating is, for example, a curing oil like linseed, tung etc or a plastic like polyurethane or epoxy and shellac.
 

Things like mineral oil and a few vegetable oils don’t cure, in the same way that wax will not cure so they do not have a film finish.

 

film finishes usually have to be sanded back to allow a new coat. Non film finishes can often be refreshed by just cleaning and a new  layer or spots applied.

 

Non curing vegetable oils will usually go rancid so are a bad idea. Shellac is unique in film finishes as cleaning then adding will function in the same way as a wax, but be careful as you can strip the older shellac as the new will melt into the old.

38 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Which Osmo product are you talking about? There seems to be quite a few.

I’ve used the POLYX and door oils under here you can see why I said you want to buy the smallest size (probably not the 5mm one) as you will not use it all.

 

I haven’t refinished that table since then and it’s still looking good, I may have used some paste wax once, I don’t remember.

Edited January 24, 2021 by sometimewoodworker

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

A film coating is, for example, a curing oil like linseed, tung etc or a plastic like polyurethane or epoxy and shellac.
 

Things like mineral oil and a few vegetable oils don’t cure, in the same way that wax will not cure so they do not have a film finish.

 

film finishes usually have to be sanded back to allow a new coat. Non film finishes can often be refreshed by just cleaning and a new  layer or spots applied.

 

Non curing vegetable oils will usually go rancid so are a bad idea. Shellac is unique in film finishes as cleaning then adding will function in the same way as a wax, but be careful as you can strip the older shellac as the new will melt into the old.

I’ve used the POLYX and door oils under here you can see why I said you want to buy the smallest size (probably not the 5mm one) as you will not use it all.

 

I haven’t refinished that table since then and it’s still looking good, I may have used some paste wax once, I don’t remember.

 

Probably my display, but the video is not clear enough to see the before and after.

 

I'm not looking to refinish, just add a little sheen and protection...

[sometimewoodworker]

3 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

 

Probably my display, but the video is not clear enough to see the before and after.

 

I'm not looking to refinish, just add a little sheen and protection...

Here are after (today) and unfinished, though the unfinished is a rather different quality, the colour is the same as the table was.

 

are you keeping your location secret?

Edited January 24, 2021 by sometimewoodworker

[Yellowtail]

Here are a couple pictures. I do not use them (or the tools) anymore, but I don't want them turning to sh*t.

 

Again, I think they still look pretty good, so I don't want to refinish them or put more than a day of labor into it. 

 

 

 

 

[Yellowtail]

18 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

 

are you keeping your location secret?

 

I've been in Bangkok since I retired, I was in Prachinburi for 18 years before that. 

[Yellowtail]

11 hours ago, prophet01 said:

My two-penne'th.

Rustins danish oil's always been my go to product for finishing my projects including my beautiful 25 year old Iroko hardwood kitchen worktop which I recently sanded down and re-oiled. Not sure if it's available in LOS but similar should be.

 

Check out this guy's video. Give him a few minutes to warm up.

danish oil application

 

A photo of the item would be helpful.

 

 

 

The "oil sanding" using 600 wet paper was in interesting trick. I have not seen that before, have you actually tried it? 

 

I have an old Fender maple cutting/serving board I want to refinish. The top looks raw, but the bottom, ends & sides look like lacquer.

 

Edited January 24, 2021 by Yellowtail
added text

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

 

The "oil sanding" using 600 wet paper was in interesting trick. I have not seen that before, have you actually tried it? 

 

I have an old Fender maple cutting/serving board I want to refinish. The top looks raw, but the bottom, ends & sides look like lacquer.

 

For a cutting board any kind of film finish is a poor idea. The ideal is mineral oil as it doesn’t go rancid and is completely safe to eat. While virtually all film finishes are safe once cured, eating them isn’t recommended. For serving boards most finishes are OK

[Yellowtail]

Just now, sometimewoodworker said:

For a cutting board any kind of film finish is a poor idea. The ideal is mineral oil as it doesn’t go rancid and is completely safe to eat. While virtually all film finishes are safe once cured, eating them isn’t recommended. For serving boards most finishes are OK

 

-Thanks. Do you know what what products here correspond to "white-sprite"/mineral spirits? Most of the thinners here seem to be much more aggressive/volatile than the mineral spirits I am familiar with.  

[sometimewoodworker]

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

Thanks. Do you know what what products here correspond to "white-sprite"/mineral spirits?

“white-sprite” known as white-sprite available from big box stores and Lazada.

you can also find turpentine there and white-sprite is AKA turps sub.

[Yellowtail]

2 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

“white-sprite” known as white-sprite available from big box stores and Lazada.

you can also find turpentine there and white-sprite is AKA turps sub.

 

Oh, I was spelling it wrong, thanks.