Danish Oil 

One of the very best instructional videos I have ever seen. Thank you very much. Well shot, explained and narrated. Top work! :)

Thanks for the video,I have used Danish oil but needed a refresher on it as I am getting ready to use it on a walnut bed.I learned a few new things I didn't know,thanks!

Thanks Brian - just finished a kit build and with your video it took me 6 days and still looks great!

Useful vid, like the idea of grain filling with Danish Oil, I'll take that into my work - thanks.

Good video, clear explanations and demonstration too!

I have the same book, and Flexner is by far the person who showed me the most when it comes to finishing a piece of wood. Using a regular pore filler in my experience is a little faster, though I have never had any problems with the sanding slurry. To be fair, I've only done it on Oak and Mahogany, which may be easier to work with than other woods. If I was going to leave the finish as oil only, I agree with Flexner about the look, but when I know I will be varnishing over it, I always fill.

Been using Watco Danish Oil (walnut) for years to touch up the interior trim around the house each spring. Works well on our dark trim, except for places where the bare wood has been exposed. I'd heard of the fill technique, but hadn't seen it. Thanks for the demo and the advice. Will try it on a couple of ukes I'm building. I want to put a smooth filled finish on them. Thanks for the video.

Very well done-for your free pours try it with the opening at the top rather than bottom-it's counterintuitive but works giving you some real control.

Absolutely. Danish Oil does a great job on all types of wood pretty much. I would do a test on a really oily wood like cocobolo first just to be sure, but the woods you are asking about are nice and dry. Best of luck.

Great video. I like your technique for filling the grain, fantastic! Danish oil is a great finish in my experience, as you stated it has a mix of oil and varnish. There's a couple of similar products out there too. A tung oil finish works at least as well as the danish oil in my experience. It's also a combination of oil and varnish. You can get 100% tung oil, but that doesn't have the protective properties you'd want in a protective finish. Paste varnish is another alternative rub on finish. It actually polymerizes the wood with the 1st couple of coats, so it makes the wood part of the finish. Then build it up with as many coats as it takes to get it how you want.

Danish Oil is an Oil/Varnish blend, so you get the look of an oil with some properties of a varnish. I would use the danish oil for the coloring and grain pop, then coat with a couple coats of arm-r-seal to give it some protection. The danish will protect about as good as the tru-oil, which is not very much but better than some finishes. If it's being used on a table I would definitely use an oil based hard curing varnish over the danish.

As a good rule, anything will go over anything else as long as the first thing has completely cured. Mixing a dye stain in oil will not work, though applying it over a fully dried dye stain should not present any problems. I would try a test board, and make sure the exact ingredients you are using will play well together. Make sure the dye stain is completely dry before applying the oil, start with thin coats, and everything should work out just fine. Best of luck.

Absolutely. It would still have a natural look to it also. I would go for it. Cheap and easy.

The wipe on poly is actually a polyurethane varnish, which is an oil and a resin that are cooked together to form a new compound. The wiping varnish is just varnish with a larger amount of thinner in the mixture, so that it has time to smooth itself out before it gets too hard. I do not know what the UK equivalent is, but a glue based product does not sound right to me. I would look for any oil base varnish that dries clear, and pick the gloss level you like. Do a test board just in case.

Kia Ora, great video! I am just deciding whether to oil or poly a beautiful 7 draw rimu (wood native to NZ), duchess, poly would e easier, but I love the oil look and don't mind taking up the challenge to wet sand, (remeber my grandfather doing that,) ideally I wish hubby would do it all for me, but every time he looks at my project, I start getting bossy and telling him what to do lol, hahahah, ahhh. Thanks for the demo!!!

Superb info and demonstration bud . Thought about trying danish oil for some knife scales , After seeing this i think i will give it a go . Managed to get some Elm Burr scales and i really want the grain to pop . Thankyou .

Thank you very much, I'm glad I could help.

Make your own: 1/3 oil based varnish, 1/3 boiled linseed oil (or pure tung oil), 1/3 mineral spirits. Smells much better, costs less.

I'd be interested in your reaction to this. Flexner (Understanding Wood Finishes) is pretty critical of this method, in a way. Basically, he says (1) this is a very inefficient way to fill pores; if that's what you want; instead use bona fide pore filler and a film finish, and (2) the thing that makes oil finishes appealing, anyway, is that the pores are not filled, but sharply defined. After your demo, do you agree or disagree or have you found another, better way since?

Nice video thanks. I can't take credit for this tip but if you pour the finish out of your can from the long side of the can vs the short it wont splash all over the place...cheers :D

When I want a flat look that I will be polishing to a high gloss, I always fill the surface in some way, and since the oil is already on there I usually sand the Danish into a slurry. When I am leaving an oil only finish, I agree that the tiny pores and little openings add to the look, and I do not sand it. "Understanding Wood Finishing" by Bob Flexner is easily the first book anyone should buy when looking to understand how to finish a project. Thanks for the comment.

Brian, Thank for the videos. I'm new to finishing and I'm about to start a vintage (50's cut) Fender Stratocaster alder body. I want a natural finished work horse of a guitar so I plan to final finish with Arm-R-Seal. Is there anything I should take into consideration in regards to alder in particular as opposed to the oak plywood used in the video? Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for providing the informative videos.

hello, im refurbing a beech gun stock, ive achieved a really smooth finish on the beech through sanding and would like a naturel finish, would the process that you've demonstrated here be also suitable for a stock and would the filling part also apply??.. thank you.. cool video..

Do you have any advice for preventing it becoming tacky? This happened when I was doing it and it ended up being quite a bad mess. Do you just add more oil? Then wipe any excess off off when finished.

i bet this is perfect for maple fretboards?

hello brian, great video's thanks. i am planning to use danish oil on a solid beech wooden worktop, i am using the worktop as a desk. would you recommend using this method for finishing the worktop? also i noticed that you sanded in a circular motion, could this scratch the wood, i was told to only sand with the grain by another person, also do you have any tips for finishing the ends of the wood, would you just use the same method you used for the top of the surface, thanks again...

Hi there! Great video. Quick question, hopefully you can help. After the wet sanding step and letting it dry... I noticed a film in some areas. I assume this is excess build up from the sanding that has dried on there. What would be your recommendation on the best way to remove this film? I thought about buffing, but not sure. The wood type is black walnut. thanks!

It's difficult to give a hard number, however a can should do several guitars. Not much at all is really used on each guitar, so it will last a good long time.

@whenvaporsvanish The Danish will penetrate and leave nothing on the surface, which is what you are after in pistol grips. In fact a film finish may become slippery with palm sweat and cause some hand slippage while cycling rounds, which will throw your groupings off. I was a competition off hand shooter for several years, and my grips were wrapped in a single layer of 150 grit sand paper so my grip never fouled my shot groups.

Nice thanks must buy some :D

This would work really well with ash and walnut too wouldn't it?

Online or in a fine woodworking store. It is also at home depot I found out.

could i ask what do you mean with the 'poly' that can be put on afterwards as an armour. do you mean polish?

Hi ya I have just upcycled some bedroom furniture, the tops I have left showing the natural wood. I have used your video(thanks very much) and used danish oil on them. It looks great. I tried to get some white bond poly from a couple of hardwear stores and they seemed confused as to what it is. I'm in the UK my hubby is wondering if it is uni-bond, like a glue that you put on and it dries clear. if this is what i need how do I apply it? Many Thanks Sharon

hey man, so im needing to apply a finnish to a jewelry box and im just wondering should i apply sanding sealer first, then apply the danish? or should i do a a coat, then sand, then apply then sand? maybe 3 coats?

Thankyou :-)

cmon people if u watch leave a thumbs up!!!

Hello there...I've only used Danish oil on most of my guitar parts and it seems to be great for Swamp Ash, Black Linba (Korina) and Alder. On Koa I'm had problems even though I've sanded down like on my other guitars and used over 12 coats of Danish Oil, the wood reacts to the sweat of my hands and goes rough...My question to you is, how does Tru Oil comare to Danish oil. Is ot gonna work better for Koa? And also how do the oils compare on the woods I've mentioned earlier on?

@gilleslegatuke Lol, actually my parents went on a vacation to San Francisco and I was given that shirt. I know I wear it a lot in the videos, and I really should have some Six Gun shirts made up but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. It's a really comfortable shirt actually, that's why I wear it all the time.

Wish you were my neighbour, I'd be your best friend lol!

Hey Brain, great walk through, this is really helpful and clear :) I was wondering though, how much do you think I'd need to finish a guitar body with? How many coats would you say a 500ml can would do? Cheers :)

California has banned Tru Oil. How close it this to Tru Oil as far as protecting with a hard surface?

pour with the hole at the top and it won't be as hard. Good vid.

would this look nice for a finish on a mahogany slingshot ?

how can i get the danish oil ????? thanks

i'm sure walnut would be easier to fill than oak. oak is just such an open pored wood

are yu really a federal prisonner from alcatraz ;-))))))

A good product, but Watco, earlier this year (2013) jumped their price from $10 to $16 a quart, and that's in one fell swoop. If that's not a Rip-Off Scam then there is no such thing.... Also note that their pint cans are now $9; not much of a consolation, is it?

The way you dispose of rags and materials is important....this product can spontaneously combust.. I have had it happen & am now very careful with rags, foam & steel wool that is used applying this finish. This applies to all oil based finishes.