Lemon oil

[cathodge]

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

[heiko rettberg]

have you look here? steve have on this site an aticle and an video over lemon oil.

http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com

[cathodge]

Thanks I wasn't going far enough into Steve's website.  One more question do you do this before you paint the object?

[heiko rettberg]

yes, befor painting. But i never paint wood so i have no experience with oil and paint.

[Rapid Roger]

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

[dgman]

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.

[Bill P]

Forgive me if this is off topic, but can you dip a project in Tung oil?  I've never used it before.

Bill

[dgman]

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.

[Bill P]

10-4.  Thanks, Dan.

Bill

[GrayBeard]

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~~~

[Becky]

Thanks for that info, Dan.  The blog post had me wondering if lacquer was still needed with other kinds of oil.

[jimbo]

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

[Marcellarius]

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.

[julief]

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.

[dunk]

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.