# Watco danish oil issue on walnut veneer plywood



## rowjoe76 (Feb 24, 2014)

Hello Everyone,

I’m currently constructing a stereo cabinet out of Walnut Veneer Plywood. I just started the process of applying Watco Danish Oil (Natural) to the individual pieces using the method outlined in the link below. I started by oiling one side of each piece, making sure to keep it flooded with oil. After one hour I completely wiped the pieces down and allowed them to dry for 48 hours. The pieces looked great! (see image 1 below) 

Then came time to oil the opposite side of all the pieces….this did not go nearly as well. After letting the Watco DO sit for an hour and wiping down the wood, I was left with a blotchy surface and several areas that remained lighter than the others (especially around the edges) The difference between the two sides was night and day (see image 2 below)

What I fear happened, is that when I was rubbing off the oil from the first side I was getting oil on my gloves and and then transferring it to the other side of the piece. The Watco DO then dried on the surface, thus preventing deep penetration of the oil when it came time to do the other side.

Am I jumping the gun here? Will the next step of Wet Sanding with #400 grit correct the blotches and discoloration? 

If wet sanding is not the answer, please advise what I can do to remedy this situation. 
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. I’ve poured a lot of money into this project, including my heart and soul.

Thank you in advance,
Joe

FINISHING PLAN I’M USING: http://www.wwch.org/technique/finishes/oilfin.htm


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Unrelated to your problem. I wouldn't allow the watco to sit for an hour before wiping it off. It's better to apply it and as soon as you get it covered wipe off the excess. If it needs more than apply another coat after 24 hours. 

I believe the white spots are some stains from glue or some other substance that wasn't sanded off prior to applying the oil. It could have been something the lumber company got on the wood before you bought it. What you can do in the future is wipe the wood down with mineral spirits prior to finishing to see how it works before committing to the finish. Had you been able to see the white spots you could have let the solvent dry and sand it again. At this point I would wash the panel down with lacquer thinner asap to get as much of the oils off as possible and sand it again. The oils will just gum up the sandpaper.


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## rowjoe76 (Feb 24, 2014)

*Solution for Blotching with Watco Danish Oil on Walnut Veneer*

Steve, 

Thank you for your advice and quick response. This was my first time using Watco Danish Oil and you are absolutely correct...1 hour is way too long to let the oil sit. I learned that the hard way on my first piece of wood. The Oil was extremely difficult to remove after one hour. In the future I will take your advice and wipe the wood down with mineral spirits prior to oiling.

With that being said, I am an impatient man by nature, and before I was able to check my email and see that you responded I went ahead with trying to repair it on my own. Low and behold it actually worked!! In fact it made the “bad side” look even better (and smoother) than the “Good Side”. I was so happy with the results I repeated the process on the “good side”. Don’t ask me how I came up with this solution…it was honestly a shot in the dark. But one thing is for sure, great risk sometimes equals great reward.

Here is what I did:

1) I went to the local hardware store and bought Watco Danish Oil – Dark ( I was using Natural before) 
2) I brushed on the dark oil liberally to the blotchy side of the ply and let it sit for 20 mins
3) After 20 minutes I wet sanded the surface with standard (not wet) #100 grit sandpaper. This made me extremely nervous since I knew the veneer was thin. But without this step I don’t believe I would have achieved the same results. (I hand sanded pretty hard too) 
4) I then applied a little more oil to the surface and sanded with #150 grit sandpaper (Throughout this process I kept reapplying oil to the wood to keep it wet and to maintain a nice slurry of dust and oil. It’s also important to note that i did this in sections of approx 1ft x 1ft)
5) I repeated step 4 with #220 grit sandpaper, then again with #400 WET SANDPAPER, then with 0000 Steel Wool.
6) After I finished with the steel wool I wiped the wood down with a rag, making sure I had removed all surface oil. The difference was night and day! Soft as a baby’s butt and not a blotch to be found. I repeated the same process on the other side.
7) I’m going to let the wood dry for 48 hrs then repeat step 3 with #600 WET SANDPAPER. 
8) I’m then going to finish the wood with Watco Satin Wax

One final note: There was one small section (about the size of a 50 cent piece that kept giving me trouble and would not take the oil. I hit it really hard with the #100 grit sandpaper (while wet) then reapplied a liberal amount of oil over the spot and let it sit for about 20 mins. I then rubbed the area lightly with 0000 steal wool, working the oil into the wood. It did the trick!!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

For what you did the contamination must have been very minor. I'm glad it worked for you. I would hold off on the wax for a few months until you are sure you don't need any more watco. Once you put wax on it it doesn't accept the watco very well.


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