Wood Finishes For Students: Flax Oil
As a woodworking teacher and a maker, I’ve tried almost every finish out there, perhaps short of Urushi. I’ve experimented with everything from oil and wax finishes to lacquer, [...]
Tallow Tales & the Black Handplanes of Britain
Puzzling lubrication. Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the August 2010 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine I ran out of mutton tallow this morning! I searched my tool [...]
Exterior Oil Finishes
Easy to use and maintain, they keep outdoor wood furniture looking like new. You’ve spent the winter building a set of cedar Adirondack chairs; or maybe you’ve purchased a teak garden bench. You [...]
Explaining Polymerized Oil
Simple in theory, not in the real world. A reader of my blog asked me to explain what polymerized oil is. So here goes. On one level the explanation is incredibly simple and on another it’s [...]
Oils in Finishing
Learn why certain oils cure better and what makes an oil suitable for finish. Oil is one of the most important ingredients used in finishing products. Besides being a finish all by itself, oil is [...]
Watco Danish Oil Problem: A Strange One
A woodworker friend emailed me with a problem. He had turned a face-grained bowl from what he described as “grainy” walnut. To finish it he was using Watco Danish Oil, and his problem was that [...]
Waterlox is Not Tung Oil, Even If It’s Made with Tung Oil
Not being accurate in the use of language, even when it’s the manufacturer that is responsible for the misidentification, can, and often does, lead others to use a finish that doesn't produce the [...]
Watco, Waterlox and Deft Are Known By Their Brand Names Alone
Like Kleenex, which is just one brand in the tissue category, some finishing products are known just by their brand name, not by what they are. This leaves room for misunderstanding. Watco, [...]
The Secret Finish Formula That Isn’t So Secret
Bob Flexner reveals the ingredients behind this popular, non-so-secret finishing formula.
Linseed Oil and Spontaneous Combustion: Take it seriously.
The danger of linseed oil rags spontaneously combusting is not new in the woodworking world. But because so many woodworkers use wipe-on stains and finishes that contain linseed oil, the warning [...]
Thinning Oil and Varnish: It Can Seem Confusing
Recently, I had an exchange with a friend who does woodworking as a hobby, and the exchange made me realize that the need to thin oil and varnish, especially varnish, and including polyurethane [...]