Smelly danish oil??

[hepcatswing]

I am refinishing an HMV type 200 floor model radio. I have stripped and sanded and applied about 20 layers of danish oil. The cabinet has been sitting in a closed room for a while and it seems to smell bad. Is it the danish oil? Anything I can do about it?
Cheers
JEff

[evingar]

AFAIK Danish oil is merely a refined Linseed Oil. It shouldn't smell bad. Not sure if it goes rancid if very old though

[Robert Darwent]

Originally Posted by evingar

Not sure if it goes rancid if very old though

It is possible for Danish Oil to go off but unlikely once it has been applied to a cabinet and has thoroughly dried into the surface.

I think the clue here is that the set has been sat in a "closed room" for a length of time. Is it likely that the ventilation has been inadequate and the oil has indeed started to go off because it couldn't dry properly

Try standing the cabinet outside in a dry position and hopefully the smell will go once the oil has dried correctly

[chipp1968]

Im my experience Danish oil can be quite smelly , but it depends on how sensitive you are to it. It does eventually fade away

[Mike Phelan]

Hmmm - I use Danish Oil quite a lot; it does have a strong smell until it dries, but not an unpleasant one, in my opinion.

I would guess that it is indeed linseed oil, maybe with some sort of drying agent?

[TimS]

Yes, linseed oil: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_Oil

It does take a while for the smell to go, and 20 coats seems alot!

[Radio_Dave]

I use Coloron Danish oil and the tins says it contains 'resins and pure tung oil'. It does smell, but it's a, nice, chemically smell.

It's also highly flammable, so it's probably best to ventilate that room for a while .

David

[Tom_I]

This is interesting, but be warned - not all Danish oils are the same. I have done a little research recently, and different manufacturers have different spins on what this preparation should be, and likewise teak oil.

I found this to my cost when my ancient can of Rentokil teak oil was running low, and having read of forum members' enthusiasm for Danish oil, I bought some Colron stuff from B&Q. I first tried it on some untreated wood, where it soaked in and brought out the grain beautifully. Encouraged, I next used it on a teak amplifier cabinet. I rubbed the surface down with fine steel wool, and applied a single coat. To my horror, it dried to a gloss finish, which wasn't what I wanted at all.

So this started me looking around. In the Colron range, teak oil is more or less what it says - a blend of oils with some other waterproofing compounds, all dispersed in solvent, principally white spirit. The solvent evaporates to leave the oils, etc. Colron Danish oil, on the other hand, also contains resins, so that when the solvents evaporate it dries to give a surface finish, provided the wood is not too porous. It is effectively a dilute oil-based varnish.

However, the same is not necessarily true of other manufacturers. One American one says that their teak oil dries to a high gloss finish, so it obviously contains resins. And Jeff's NZ Danish oil in post #1 obviously doesn't, if he has applied 20 coats. Do that with Colron Danish oil, and you will have a high-gloss "piano" finish. About 3 coats on untreated wood is enough to stop it soaking in any further.

All of which doesn't clarify anything at all, but if anyone is going to recommend a product of this type, it would help if they mention the manufacturer, as these things are clearly not all born equal.

Oh, and as regards smells, my old Rentokil teak oil smelled strongly of linseed oil, but the newer Colron teak and Danish oils don't have a very strong smell at all.

Time for a lie-down, I think.

Tom

PS. If anyone is worried about that teak cabinet, I recovered the situation by taking back the gloss surface with steel wool, applying a coat of teak oil, and buffing with a soft cloth. Fortunately this got the surface back to pretty well exactly what I wanted. Phew!

[OErjan_S]

I usualy use a home made recipie.
4 parts coldpressed linseedoil
5 parts balsamic turpentine.
I like the localy produced stuff made from pinepitch, but the prize is staggering (1L cost me 23€ last time), reason I prefer it is that it is less prone to evaporating leaving the oil to soak as best it can.
I sometimes add a few dropps of Stockholm tar for the colour.

only downside of this is that you have to let a THIN coat dry for up to 6 MONTHS in dry ventilated room before applying next coat,
the actuall time depend on (among other things) how dense grain the wood has and if the pores are blocked by previous coatings...
EDIT
just be warned some glueloints WILL fail with this treatmen.
for me some previous repair to veneer started peeling as result of it (easy to reglue but...)

[Tom_I]

So have I got this right? You have to leave 6 months between coats, and it makes your things fall apart.

You're not a masochist by any chance, are you?

Tom

[chipp1968]

I don't think I fancy waiting 6 months! I have noticed different types too which doesn't help anyone, but not experienced them to tell which I prefer. i used to use it on the moggy traveller woodwork, which needed doing every year! It was gloss, but like with the teak cabinet if you wire wool it and maybe lightly wax it you can get quite a nice finish.

[Framer Dave]

IMHO the best product for this job is Liberon's Finishing Oil, details here: http://www.liberon.co.uk/furniture-r...0xOTQmfA%3D%3D

This has always done a superb job for me, easy to use, not excessively smelly, needs up to 3 coats (leave overnight between). This contains Tung oil: don't forget to follow the instructions re. cloths etc. or you can start a fire!

Dave

[Tom_I]

From a quick scan of the Liberon website, it looks like none of their oil products (Danish, teak, finishing, etc) contain resins, that is they are not drying varnishes like Colron Danish oil.

Just another indication that you need to know exactly what you are buying with products like these, and they are not all the same.

Tom

[Mike Phelan]

The one I use is Colron, and indeed, I regard it as a sort of varnish, which means that I put thin coats on with a cloth,, not a brush, or it will end up treacly - yuk!
The wooden ends on the R707 and RP75 came up a treat, and even the plastic woodgrain cabinet on the Beovision 7700 has had a wipe of D O with good effect.

[OErjan_S]

the reason I prefer the wait is that the oil penetrates deep (3-4mm) and gives a enourmous "depth" to the grain.
when I make knifehandles I soak them for months in a tub of the stuff why?
it makes the birch I use almost semitransparent and near waterproof as that wood can get sadly it takes about as long to "dry" after that treatment, but the deep durable finish that is the result helps me make a good product I just transfered this teqnuque to most of my other woodworking.

[chipp1968]

Time consuming but a good job in the end .
Interestingly I have been using some oil today supplied with a worktop .I was very surprised to find it WATER BASED , and a warning about flamibility!
Contains tounge oil apparently . I didnt think you can mix the two ?

[Framer Dave]

I believe certain brands of water-based wood finishes do include oils such as tung oil. This is done by incorporating an emulsifying agent. Presumably the flammability warning relates to the oil component, which might remain in cloths, brushes etc.

Dave

[chipp1968]

yes i guessed somthing must have been added to make it work , its very odd like milk, and runny. It doesnt flow nicely , but dries flat finish

[PaulR]

I used Rustin's Danish oil on the inside of a clock case about four years ago and I can still smell it when I open it for winding. To me it smells quite pleasant, though.

As a matter of interest it brought up the case of a black "slate" clock very nicely. It was so grey and oxidised that I thought I had nothing to lose and I was very pleased with the result.

Paul (Danish oil fan!)

[jay_oldstuff]

I use danish oil on most of the wood in the house, it even seems to cover scratches in cheep veneered woods. I have a 60,s bush radiogram in the living room which had a very cracked and crazed varnish on top, over the last two years of ownership with regular danish oiling the blemishes are now almost unnoticeable, but after every oiling it does smell quite strongly for a couple of days, and when you open the doors on it you get that wonderful danish oil smell.
i also use danish oil on our slate fireplace which it brings up a treat.

Jay