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General Category => General Scroll Saw Talk => Topic started by: cathodge on December 09, 2010, 09:37:16 am

Title: Lemon oil
Post by: cathodge on December 09, 2010, 09:37:16 am
I just got an email about using Lemon Oil to finish off a project.  I have a few questions about this. Can it be painted on? I'm in Canada where do you buy it? When do you apply the varnish, after it has dried, how long?
Thanks, Cathy
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: heiko rettberg on December 09, 2010, 09:51:22 am
have you look here? steve have on this site an aticle and an video over lemon oil.

http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: cathodge on December 09, 2010, 10:01:05 am
Thanks I wasn't going far enough into Steve's website.  One more question do you do this before you paint the object?
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: heiko rettberg on December 09, 2010, 10:05:33 am
yes, befor painting. But i never paint wood so i have no experience with oil and paint.
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Rapid Roger on December 09, 2010, 10:14:55 am
If you are going to paint, don't bother with lemon oil. The lemon oil is suppose to bring out the grain and is used before shellac or polyurethane or any other clear finish. And by the way, lemon oil never completly drys so don't expect it to. It may feel dry but if you don't seal it with a top coat, it will seep out FOREVER!!
I use BLO....Boiled Linseed Oil for most of my projects and then wipe off the excess. BLO will dry after some time and then finish with a clear coat of polyurethane.
Hope that helps.

Rog
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: dgman on December 09, 2010, 10:57:19 am
Just as Roger explained above, the lemon oil that Steve uses is to bring out the grain and color of the wood grain. If you are going to paint, it is not necessary to use an oil.
I also use boiled linseed oil, but I dilute it with mineral spirits 50/50. The mineral spirits allows the oil to flow over the project and allows it to dry faster. Then when dry, I use a spray can lacquer for a topcoat.
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Bill P on December 09, 2010, 10:59:46 am
Forgive me if this is off topic, but can you dip a project in Tung oil?  I've never used it before.

Bill
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: dgman on December 09, 2010, 11:05:27 am
Yes you can, but for me it is much more expensive than BLO and mineral spirits. If you use any kind of oil, weather lemon, BLO, Danish or Tung oil, you still need to use a topcoat such as lacquer, polyurethane or whatever you use.
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Bill P on December 09, 2010, 11:20:39 am
10-4.  Thanks, Dan.

Bill
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: GrayBeard on December 09, 2010, 11:21:11 am
RE: Oils....

I use Mineral Oil for food safety and protection on my 'oven pulls'.
I caution the user that there is NO protective finish and they should wipe with a damp cloth and occasionally re-apply a little more oil..NOT cooking oil! since that can go rancid.

~~~GrayBeard~~~
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Becky on December 09, 2010, 09:08:37 pm
Thanks for that info, Dan.  The blog post had me wondering if lacquer was still needed with other kinds of oil.
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: jimbo on December 10, 2010, 01:26:05 am
Tung oil is probably the best oil to use as it dries harder than other oils but is expensive and tends to go hard in the container after a while, danish oil has polyurethane in it but needs several coats to build up a finish. I use the same method as Dan as it is cheap good and quick, it make the wood a bit darker that's about all
Jimbo
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Marcellarius on December 10, 2010, 04:33:13 am
I use both boiled lineseed oil and tung oil.
because of the cost I use blo more often, and as Dan I dilute it 50/50 with mineral spirits or sometimes with orange oil. (which I think is different than lemon oil)
for me the difference is that blo makes pine and birch plywood wood a bit yellow and that discoloration goes on after it's dry.
Tung keeps the wood color more natural and I think it's discoloring much less than blo.

Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: julief on December 10, 2010, 06:09:58 am
I'm a huge fan of Danish oil.  It comes in colors and dries quickly.  Dip, Drain, Wipe away the excess.  I usually let it sit for about 30 minutes before I wipe it down.  Often times I wax it with Howards wax n feed for a luster.  I find tung oil stays tacky for a while and I haven't tried BLO yet.
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: dunk on December 10, 2010, 05:08:36 pm
I sure wish I had known that lemon oil never really cures and will stain cloth forever, basically.  I never would have switched.  It will take me forever to use up the 6 bottles I have. 
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Bill P on December 10, 2010, 06:42:10 pm
Only 2-3 years, Dunk.  That's not bad in the big scheme of things.

Bill
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: WigWag Workshop on December 10, 2010, 07:01:55 pm
Following Steve's advice, I have tried lemon oil and I am pleased with the results.  Unless I plan on painting the project, I use lemon oil.  I am going to give BLO a try and see how that works for me.

Steven
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: GrayBeard on December 10, 2010, 07:44:11 pm
My favorite is Watco Danish Oil followed closely by BLO - 40-60 mix with Mineral Spirits.

~~~GB~~~
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Russ C on December 11, 2010, 09:08:52 am
Lemon Oil, clear lacquer spray first coat. Then Krylon clear acrylic spray for final finish. Works great for me.  8)
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: jimbo on December 11, 2010, 03:55:06 pm
As Steve said what ever suits you
Jimbo
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: ups34 on December 11, 2010, 05:59:03 pm
Lemon Oil, clear lacquer spray first coat. Then Krylon clear acrylic spray for final finish. Works great for me.  8)
Why use 3 Different Products. Do you get a deeper shine?
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Russ C on December 11, 2010, 07:39:29 pm
Lemon oil to bring out the grain of the wood. Lacquer first coat because the Krylon clear acrylic spray will not stick to the lemon oil. Krylon is cheaper than the Lacquer so I can add several coats to the desired shine for the finish coat. I usually got thru 2 to 3 cans of Kylon to 1 can Lacquer.  8)
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Rightarm on December 12, 2010, 06:15:26 pm
   Hey Russ. do you shoot it with Acrylic Enamel, then Acrylic Lacquer? Dave 8)
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: ups34 on December 12, 2010, 06:21:58 pm
I will give that a try. Sounds like what I need.
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Russ C on December 12, 2010, 10:03:36 pm
Dave, Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Spray.  8)
Title: Re: Lemon oil off topic -- Boiled Linseed Oil
Post by: Gabby on January 29, 2011, 11:02:20 pm
Just my first posting to the forum. Taa Daa!
In the past many rifle stocks were finished with BLO.
Once the sanding was all done and any stain applied and sanded to remove whiskers raised by stain.
The wood was wiped down with a generous coat of oil and allowed to absorb as much as possible, dry spots hit again to get an even coating.
Allow twenty minutes or more so it penetrates the wood. then wipe down and let cure over night. Sand lightly to provide some "tooth" and remove any whiskers or anything else that shouldn't be on there.
Now comes the hard part.
Apply a light coat with a lint free rag or your bare hand, and rub with the grain all over creating enough friction to make your hand warm. (Don't worry it will wash off) There shouldn't be any wet oil when you are through rubbing, but to be sure polish with lint free cloth ( I like OLD T-shirt material ).
Next day do it again, and again until you achieve the finish desired. Some put on as high as 15 or more coats. A nice satin finish is the result and doesn't need anything else.
Years ago I built a BP rifle from a kit and used Beverly's Lin Speed and achieved a beautiful deep gloss finish after following the same procedure. If someone can tell me how to upload photos I'll try to add one of it.
It's a lot of work but other methods don't match the results, or the satisfaction. JMHO

Gabby    Yup living up to my name!
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: dgman on January 29, 2011, 11:35:14 pm
Hey Gabby, welcome to the forum. Thanks for all the info.
Why don't you go over to the introduction page and introduce yourself there.
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: tux_linux on January 30, 2011, 04:31:48 am
Gabby

That's a common thing in big furniture projects. But as we are most times facing small parts and often fragile parts, there is no way to work so much on the finish.

Also, consider the time spend on this finish. Some of us do sell, some of us (like me) does it mostly for charity. So the projects need to be finished in a valuable time.

regards
Torsten
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Russ C on January 30, 2011, 09:05:18 am
Hi Gabby, I'm Russ from Florida. Welcome to the Scrollsaw Forum.  :)

I can see that working on rifle stocks but we are talking about scroll saw projects. The procedure/application would definatly not work for fretwork.  8)
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Sawdust Dave on January 30, 2011, 11:48:48 am
Welcome Gabby... I use a similar technique on scrollsaw bowls and boxes that don't have fretwork. I agree that the results are worth it :)

@ Dunk.. The advantage of using lemon oil is that it's alot cheaper and in some wood, like birdseye maple for example, it seems to pop the grain a little better. I've dipped projects in Lemon oil first, let it dry, then followed by BLO after that and it worked well.

I don't have a standard finishing technique that I use all the time. I pretty much let the wood and my mood dictate how I want to finish it. When I use a top coat I use lacquer in the colder months. I don't get good results with Krylon acrylic unless it's at least 65?. When the weather warms up I use it depending on the finish I want to achive.
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: Gabby on January 31, 2011, 11:24:19 pm
Hey Gabby, welcome to the forum. Thanks for all the info.
Why don't you go over to the introduction page and introduce yourself there.

I'm bashful can't you tell?
Here is a photo of my 30 year old BP rifle finished with the Beverly's product mentioned before and applied as described.
Thanks everyone for the gracious welcome.
Gabby
Title: Re: Lemon oil
Post by: dunk on February 01, 2011, 01:04:36 pm
Thanks dave.  I'll have to use 2 methods one for my stand up puzzles as I do not put a clear coat on them, and fretwork can use the lemon oil on them with the clear coat over it.