# Finishing white cedar



## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

I've been making a few small christmas presents with white cedar, and am debating how to clean and finish them. I was set on tung oil - I picked up some pure tung oil from lee valley the other day and tried it out on a test piece. I hadn't sanded the piece beforehand, or washed it with TSP (my usual method of cleaning before applying a finish.) It looked ok, but it gave the piece a slightly yellow tint and was a bit blotchy. I would prefer to use a drying oil, as the presents are candle boxes, which get quite warm. I don't like the idea of heating up a polyurethane finish, and have no experience with lacquer or shellac. I'm also considering trying linseed oil, or applying a stain first, but I was hoping the drying oil would be all the finish needed.

Any suggestions as to what kind of finish I should use, or the best way to prep the wood? I'm almost done the first candle box, I sanded it from 80 to 400 grit sand paper last night, looks great. I hope to get it right the first time!


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## crquack (Oct 10, 2008)

I have had encouraging experience with Watco Danish Oil on small pieces. You can put on two coats pretty quickly and it dries overnight. Linseed oil takes ages to cure by itself.

BTW I was not aware that there is a concern with polyurethane finishes regarding heat. What is the evidence for this? Spray-on poly is the quickest way to finish though definitely not cheapest.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Thanks for the reply! After some searching today, it appears that poly should be ok with heat, actually better than an oil finish... I have a both oil and water based poly here, I'm going to try both, see how that goes!

Put a second coat of tung on my test piece, it's looking a bit better. I bought some BLO at home depot today, looks like it's even more yellow than the tung.

Interesting about the Watco. If I see some in a shop, I'll pick some up to try out. Still not sure about cleaning - think TSP is still a good call, then I might wipe with mineral spirits.

To be honest, the finish is going to play second fiddle to the glass that will go in the box!


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## crquack (Oct 10, 2008)

The base of this sundial is oak with the dark walnut type of Watco Danish. I did not use the natural type first so the end-grain is a bit darker:

Miniature Equatorial Sundial version 14 by crquack on Etsy

This one is oak with red mahogany gel stain and poly spray finish:

Miniature equatorial sundial version 13 by crquack on Etsy

Both pieces were just sanded, no washing, dust blown off with compressed air. I just dunked the piece in the danish oil, left it there for 15 minutes, took it out, left it to dry for about 30 minutes and when it started becoming tacky I wiped off the excess. Then I promptly dunked it again for the second coat and repeated the procedure. Let dry overnight and voila!


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