In article ,
"Derek Hartzell" wrote:

I want a good finish for my natural edge bowls. I've used tung oil, tung
oil mixed with mineral spirit and now use Daly's SeaFin Teak Oil which I
like a lot better than the other two. I also tried Formby's Tung Oil finish
and didn't really like it. It seemed more brittle and crystalline. I want
a penetrating type with oil, like an oil varnish to protect my natural edge
bowls. One criteria is a faster build than what I'm getting. Some bowls
like pine and birch may take up to about 7-10 coats. Most bowls including
apple, cherry and maple take at least 4 coats. One member of my local club
suggested TruOil and I'm leaning toward that based on good comments in the
archives. Any other suggestions? I'll be ordering the Russell CD's when he
intros the new one, but I need to get a gallon soon.


I like the medium-luster sheen that my homade oil-varnish blend yields.
The specific components a Behlen's Rock Hard Varnish; boiled linseed
oil or 100% tung oil; and VMP naptha.

Resins: The Behlen's is very high in resins compared with the standard
and spar varnishes one finds at hardware and home centers. I prefer
Behlen's Rock Hard Tabletop Varnish which is a "short oil" compared to
the standard varnish's "medium oil". What this means is that the amount
of oils (like BLO) put into the can by the manufacturer is less and it
therefore contains more hard curing resin. (Spar is a "long oil" - much
more oil to resin to yield a more flexible finish which is needed with
wood movement due to weather exposure.)

The advantage of using alkyd type resin instead of a polyurethane resin
is that the alkyds are easier to repair. The poly's are really, really
tough but one may encounter adhesion problems if additional coats are
applied after the initial application cures out or if you need to fix a
scuff or ding. I hardly ever use poly except with pieces that will be
subject to heavy wear or direct liquid contact.

Oils: Tung vs. BLO: I use whatever is handy. Boiled linseed oil is less
expensive and quite widely available compared to 100% tung oil. Tung
oil will amber-tint the wood to a lesser degree, but by the time the
amber-colored varnish is applied, I don't think you'll see much
difference between the two oils.

Solvents: I prefer VMP Naptha or real Turpentine. Naptha evaporates
more quickly; turpentine more slowly. I prefer either one over mineral
spirits due to its strong smell - even the "odorless", which to my
nose, isn't.

The factors to take into consideration are the odor you are subjected
to during the applications and the evaporation rate. If it's cool to
cold, the slower evaporation rates will slow the whole curing process
down and drag out the time between coats. Naptha is a fairly fast
evaporator - turpentine and min. spirits are slower.

Generally I use the Behlen's combined with boiled linseed and VMP
Naptha. The mix ratio I favor is roughly 2 parts varnish, 1 part oil
and 1 to 2 parts thinnner.

The amount of thinner is the most uncritical of all since it evaporates
leaving the other two behind as the finish. Too little solvent though
and it can be like trying to apply honey to the surface and too much
solvent takes a long time to build sufficient film.

The mix builds pretty quickly. My technique is to rub and rub and rub
the mixture into the wood and then buff with a soft cloth. I repeat the
process a few more times with 24 hour drying times between coats and
get a nice semi-gloss sheen which appears pretty tough.