# I Screwed Up ...



## Kevin (Sep 21, 2016)

I used tru oil on a project made from walnut and the it was looking good at first. I lightly sanded the 1st coat after it dried and layered on another, let dry, sanded, repeated 3 times. After the 3rd coat I could see it wasn't going to give the look I was after and wasn't filling the grain like I wanted. So I sanded it off as best I could, knowing I'd never get it out of the pores and knowing I couldn't sand past it because the project wood is very thin (it's the saya, or scabbard for those following my katana project).

Soooo without asking anyone I decided to apply a coat of Odie's oil. After the first coat was as dry as it was going to get I wiped it down good and it was looking pretty good and had the sheen I was after, more egg shell as opposed to the higher gloss tru oil, but it was a bit blotchy. So I applied another coat and rubbed it in well. A little more blotchy. Just like in 2 places though not all over the scabbard. Now I'm not sure what to do. I assume someone will want pictures I'll get some later.

Any ideas on how to process with this?


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## SENC (Sep 21, 2016)



Reactions: Funny 10


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## Mike1950 (Sep 21, 2016)

I have found switching products midstream -usually to be an OH- sh!t moment- you already know that. Maybe steel wooling it down and getting it consistent again. Sealing with shellac and starting over. But totally a guess- Oldies oil is not something I am familiar with. I have saved a couple with a water based general finish antique wax that turns out nice. Good luck with what ever method you use.


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## Palaswood (Sep 21, 2016)

Perhaps an oil with a light stain such as Watco's Danish oil Walnut (has some walnut stain in it). That may help to even out the blotchiness (or could make it worse, I don't know). But you can wet sand with the oil to fill pores, then successive coats to cover and build up. But I prefer shellac to oils these days...


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## SENC (Sep 21, 2016)

I hate products that won't say what is in them, but based on the description I'm going to guess it is a polymerized tung oil or blo or mixture. Tru oil, as I recall, is a blo varnish, so if right about odies the 2 should be ok together.

The following is based on my assumption about odies so I may be very wrong, but it is what I would do.
Put a heavy, wet coat of the odies on it, rub it in really well (get it nice and warm) and then hang it to let it drip. Touch it every few minutes - you want to catch it just before it gets tacky - and wipe off the excess. Allow to hang dry for 12-24 hours and repeat.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Kevin (Sep 21, 2016)

I was wondering if I can wipe it down with mineral spirits before I do anything else?


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## SENC (Sep 21, 2016)

Kevin said:


> I was wondering if I can wipe it down with mineral spirits before I do anything else?


If it is a blo or tung oil concoction, mineral spirits would be appropriate.


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## TimR (Sep 21, 2016)

Kevin said:


> I was wondering if I can wipe it down with mineral spirits before I do anything else?


If the mineral spirits aren't sufficient, naphtha may work. I'd recommend testing because I've only used it to remove poly that didn't set up well, not sure how it will work with the finishes you have on it.


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## Kevin (Sep 21, 2016)

I'm converting a video right now that shows the situation better than pictures can. Only a minute and a half video but YT is taking forever to upload it. Probably on my end though.


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## Kevin (Sep 21, 2016)

Here's the video


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## SENC (Sep 21, 2016)

First, you need to stand on something for your next video. I can barely hear you over the din of crickets.

I suspect the oil soaked in deeper in some areas more than other and you need more oil. Most oil finishes need many applications for this reason. I still say rub in a flooding coat (it should look wet all over when done), let it drip until just before tacky, then wipe the excess. My bet is you'll see some areas still look wet and others look like they're drying just before you wipe. That would tell me some areas are still soaking in the finish and that you'll need to repeat the process the next day. On my oil finish calls (whether pure tung, polymerized tung, or truoil) I keep repeating daily until it looks pretty uniformly wet (excess all over) just before wiping.

Reactions: Like 1


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## NYWoodturner (Sep 21, 2016)

Just a curious thought you might try on some scrap of the same wood... What if you flood coat it Japan Dryer, let it dry for 24 hours then sand it back pretty aggressively? You have some room to sand there. I don't know if there is enough to sand through all the botch but I bet you could get most of it.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Kevin (Sep 21, 2016)

NYWoodturner said:


> Just a curious thought you might try on some scrap of the same wood... What if you flood coat it Japan Dryer, let it dry for 24 hours then sand it back pretty aggressively? You have some room to sand there. I don't know if there is enough to sand through all the botch but I bet you could get most of it.



That might have been a good idea. But since I am so impatient I usually try something else right after I ask the question because y'all do not sit by your computers and wait for me to ask a question.

Next time answer quicker please.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 4


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## Charles Neil (Sep 23, 2016)

Kevin said:


> I used tru oil on a project made from walnut and the it was looking good at first. I lightly sanded the 1st coat after it dried and layered on another, let dry, sanded, repeated 3 times. After the 3rd coat I could see it wasn't going to give the look I was after and wasn't filling the grain like I wanted. So I sanded it off as best I could, knowing I'd never get it out of the pores and knowing I couldn't sand past it because the project wood is very thin (it's the saya, or scabbard for those following my katana project).
> 
> Soooo without asking anyone I decided to apply a coat of Odie's oil. After the first coat was as dry as it was going to get I wiped it down good and it was looking pretty good and had the sheen I was after, more egg shell as opposed to the higher gloss tru oil, but it was a bit blotchy. So I applied another coat and rubbed it in well. A little more blotchy. Just like in 2 places though not all over the scabbard. Now I'm not sure what to do. I assume someone will want pictures I'll get some later.
> 
> Any ideas on how to process with this?


Both of those oils are very slow to dry if ever, I would let them dry as much as possible and use a better oil like Arm R Seal. In reality I would probably hit them with a rattle can of lacquer, hoping it will dry the oils in, and after a couple of coats you should be ok

Reactions: Like 1


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## deltatango (Sep 23, 2016)

Wood Alchohol (or whatever isopropyll, denatured, rubbing, etc). Then, re-sand back two grits, bring back your final grit, then try a new, tested can of Watco. I'd test the Watco on a similar piece of wood first. Once it's dry, go over with Watco Satin Wax, building up as desired. So many ways to skin this cat....

My thinking is that somehow, something has gotten on the wood in the places that are blotchy, possibily at some point before you got it, and it's taking uneven penetration. The Watco does deep penetrate, and sometimes acts like a solvent. The alcohol rubbinbg then the sanding back hopefully will even things out, then light successive coatings of Watco, carefully applied, just might do the trick.
There are several fixes, but the one that works best for you is the right one, IMO.


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## CWS (Sep 23, 2016)

Kevin said:


> That might have been a good idea. But since I am so impatient I usually try something else right after I ask the question because y'all do not sit by your computers and wait for me to ask a question.
> 
> Next time answer quicker please.


I'm just amazed you admitted you screwed up. I would have just started over and never told anyone. One of those things when you look around to see if someone is watching.


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## Mike1950 (Sep 23, 2016)

CWS said:


> I'm just amazed you admitted you screwed up. I would have just started over and never told anyone. One of those things when you look around to see if someone is watching.



If you know Kevin- he has NO problem admitting he screwed up- Just look back at his threads. If ya aint screwing up- you either are not trying anything new or doing nothing at all. As they say the difference between some one just starting wood working and some one having done it for years is the one that has done it for years has made one helluva lot more mistakes.....

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1 | Agree 3


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## deltatango (Sep 23, 2016)

It's no big deal. Stuff happens especially when it comes to finishing. Reaching out for a solution to a problem is what is so great about this forum. I admire Kevin for taking it in stride and moving forward.
It's how we all learn.
There's an old saying when working in electronics (that applies to everything):

"The amount of knowledge gained is directly proportional to the amount of equipment ruined..."

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Mike1950 (Sep 23, 2016)

deltatango said:


> It's no big deal. Stuff happens especially when it comes to finishing. Reaching out for a solution to a problem is what is so great about this forum. I admire Kevin for taking it in stride and moving forward.
> It's how we all learn.
> There's an old saying when working in electronics (that applies to everything):
> 
> "The amount of knowledge gained is directly proportional to the amount of equipment ruined..."



I think that applies to almost everything


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## deltatango (Sep 23, 2016)

You probably don't have the time to do this, but this is an interesting approach to this issue of drying that has come up. Normally this desicant is used for moisture, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wouldn't work for finish in wood that doesn't want to dry.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=48083&cat=2,50560

I think you could take some black plastic and lay down a good amount of the desicant, then put the Saya on it, then cover it with the desicant completely, then roll the black plastic over it and put it in the sun. Leave it for a day, perhaps two, then pull the Saya out. My guess is the desicant will have wicked the finish out. Can't say for certain, but I'm thinking it would work. Just a thought.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 1 | Creative 1


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## Kevin (Sep 23, 2016)

Well what I did last night before I saw more advice was to wipe it down with regular old 70% house hold ISO - because the DA seemd to harden the oil on a test piece. After that I sanded by hand for an hour then blew it off real good with compressed air and wiped down with naptha. After I let it dry a half hour I hit it with . . . .

Minwax spar urethane. Worked like a charm. One coat and it looks great but I think I'll hit it with 500 grit again and give it another coat . I'll post a pic later. I know none of that was probably smart but it seemed to work fine.

Reactions: Like 2


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## Kevin (Sep 23, 2016)

deltatango said:


> You probably don't have the time to do this, but this is an interesting approach to this issue of drying that has come up. Normally this desicant is used for moisture, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wouldn't work for finish in wood that doesn't want to dry.
> 
> http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=48083&cat=2,50560
> 
> I think you could take some black plastic and lay down a good amount of the desicant, then put the Saya on it, then cover it with the desicant completely, then roll the black plastic over it and put it in the sun. Leave it for a day, perhaps two, then pull the Saya out. My guess is the desicant will have wicked the finish out. Can't say for certain, but I'm thinking it would work. Just a thought.



I didn't see this until now for some reason. I bought 4000 packs of the little bags for putting in ammo containers and still have about 1000 left. I would've tried it. I'll keep it in mind for next time.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Charles Neil (Sep 23, 2016)

Kevin, clean it well with Naphtha , often times it will clean down and seems to pull out soft finishes and they dry. Often furniture strippers encounter some contamination in the wood, and when sprayed it will leave an area that will not dry and remains sticky, a gentle wipe down with Naphtha, and it would cure on down

Reactions: Informative 1


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## larry C (Sep 25, 2016)

Kevin said:


> I was wondering if I can wipe it down with mineral spirits before I do anything else?



Kevin, I've had this problem a couple of times.....yes, will work. I use 0000 steel wool, and mineral spirits, get all the gummy, blotchy crap off, then let it dry at least over nite. You will end up with a good base of TruOil on the walnut.....after that, use your hand, and a soft cloth, put the TruOil on the cloth, rub a light coat on the piece, then rub it briskly with your bare hand.....the heat of you hand rubbing it will almost instantly harden the TruOil...after you have built up about 5 or 6 coats, let it cure for a couple days, then use 0000 steel wool, and very lightly, rub it until you remove only the gloss. After that, use a crumpled up piece of newspaper, and rub it out to the sheen that you want.

Yes, it's a lot of work, but it ends up a beautiful finish.....I've used this on gunstocks, for years....

Good luck!

Larry C

Reactions: Like 2


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## Kevin (Sep 26, 2016)

larry C said:


> Kevin, I've had this problem a couple of times.....yes, will work. I use 0000 steel wool, and mineral spirits, get all the gummy, blotchy crap off, then let it dry at least over nite. You will end up with a good base of TruOil on the walnut.....after that, use your hand, and a soft cloth, put the TruOil on the cloth, rub a light coat on the piece, then rub it briskly with your bare hand.....the heat of you hand rubbing it will almost instantly harden the TruOil...after you have built up about 5 or 6 coats, let it cure for a couple days, then use 0000 steel wool, and very lightly, rub it until you remove only the gloss. After that, use a crumpled up piece of newspaper, and rub it out to the sheen that you want.
> 
> Yes, it's a lot of work, but it ends up a beautiful finish.....I've used this on gunstocks, for years....
> 
> ...



Thanks Larry. Through various processes none of which I should have tried probably, I finally got it looking pretty good. I'd actually like to put another coat on it but I'm afraid to do it so I'm gonna call it good. The guy getting it is good at finishing so if he wants another one it won't be a problem for him to do it. I hope to be get back on the project soon and cpmplete it all. Thanks for the adivce I defintiely store it for future refence.


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