I Think I Screwed Up!!!!

How so, you say? Especially when everything was going so swimmingly according to plan? 

Well, the finishing process can be touch and go depending on what the wood looks like after testing in a small area. The problem with juniper like these bowls are is that there are so many different hues in both the sapwood and the heartwood.

The first step in my finishing process is to treat the wood with Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner. This conditioner does just that....conditions the wood in preparation for a stain being applied. 

My usual finishing process doesn't involve using stains, but I like using the pre-stain conditioner anyway because it seems to help stabilize the red color of the heartwood in juniper. 

However, this time, after applying the pre-stain conditioner, the sapwood was more yellowish than previous pieces of juniper I've worked with. So, I decided to try and tone down the yellow in the sapwood just a tad by applying a coat of Danish Oil 'natural' which has a slightly amber hue to it when cured. This is where I think I may have screwed up.

Let me explain. 

Before I applied the Danish Oil, I followed my own standard operating procedure of applying a coat of dewaxed shellac in order to help seal the grain of the wood so I wouldn't have to use so many coats of varnish later on. 

Ok, so far so good.

After I sanded the shellac layer lightly, I applied the Danish Oil to each piece. 

Aaaaaand this is where things started to go south for me. The Danish Oil I use has varnish in it, but it's never....not ever....glossy. This was waaaaay too glossy!

Even after curing overnight, the Danish Oil refused, I say REFUSED, to dry. So, it was off to the wonders of Google search to do some research.

Bottom line? My Danish Oil was too old. Plus, it had gone through at least two winters in sub-freezing temps much of the time. In my research, I found out any petroleum based finish for wood that sits too long and/or goes through significant weather changes (like heat in summer and cold in winter) will...not...cure! End of discussion!

Some pros out there recommended sanding down to bare wood and starting over. Others recommended trying to strip as much of the finish off as possible by using mineral spirits/paint thinner. The latter option sounded much better (and a HECKUVA lot easier) than the first option.

That's where I am right now, and hoping I didn't, in fact, screw up too bad.

DWR