Marc - Trying to make a water-based finish
look more like an oil-based finish?
I think we can.
(groovy music)
How can we still use water-based,
but make it look like it's an oil-based finish?
How do we bring that life
back into the wood,
even if the top coat doesn't impart a whole lot of color?
And I think we've got a few good options here.
Now there are three pretty common ways
that you can go about bringing this extra life
to that water-based finish.
And they're all based on the same principle.
And that is, putting some color into the wood first,
before we add our top-coat.
We're not really going to do anything
with the top coat itself.
Although you could, that's probably a fourth method
that you can use, but these are the three
that I find to be the easiest, the most accessible,
and the most likely for you to have some success with.
So let's take a look at each individual one.
Before we do that, I just want to mention,
we will have, like any good experiment should, controls.
I have one board here, that I have from a previous
practice piece that I had made,
that's coated with General Finish's Semi-Gloss.
Okay, that's going to be our oil control.
And then I've got another board
which I haven't coated yet,
but that's going to receive
the General Finish's Polyacrylic Semi-Gloss.
This is also going to be the water-based material
that's going to topcoat
these other three experimental boards.
Now the first option we're going to look at
is the application of an oil..
Now we're not talking an oil-based varnish here,
we're just talking oil.
Boiled Linseed Oil in fact is a relatively pure oil,
but it's had chemical dryers added to it
that helps it cure.
Now you can use something like a pure tung oil,
but tung oil has a little bit more of a reputation
for not yellowing quite as much over time,
and that's actually something
that we really want in this case.
So I'm just going to stick with the boiled linseed oil,
plus it's cheaper.
Okay, so to apply it to the surface, pretty straightforward.
Just gonna flood it on, let it soak in.
So after about five minutes,
I'm going to wipe off the excess,
and I'm gonna monitor the piece of wood
for the next 8-10 hours,
just check it every once in a while.
Make sure no oil is seeping up to the surface.
'Cause that can happen in some open-poured woods,
and things like oak have a tendency to do that.
Just get a paper towel, and wipe off the excess.
Now, what I'm gonna do,
see boiled linseed oil takes a long time to cure,
and especially if you're gonna coat it
with a water-based finish,
obviously oil and water don't mix,
so it needs to be completely cured
before you even think about trying
to put a water-based finish on it.
But there is one option that we can do
to sort of speed up the process a little bit.
You know how we always talk
about shellac being a universal binder?
This is a perfect example of that.
If I wait about three to four days,
you want to be extra cautious, wait about a week.
And then I apply a nice light coat of shellac,
de-waxed shellac, onto the surface.
Then I can safely apply my water-based top coat,
so that's exactly what we're gonna do with this piece.
Alright, so here is our boiled linseed oil board,
nice and dry.
And I'm gonna coat it with some shellac.
And again, I'm just using the Bullseye Seal Coat,
two pound cut, clear,
de-waxed shellac.
And remember, very quick and deliberate motions
when you're using the shellac.
That's it.
Let that dry
probably for a good hour or two.
Now our next option is to use a water-based dye
or multiple dyes, to get the color that we're after.
I've got some General Finish's light brown dye-stain,
and amber dye-stain.
Both water based.
And I'm gonna do a little bit of a mixture here.
It's actually gonna be a pretty dilute mixture
to impart that color.
I really don't want to completely dye the surface.
I just wanna add a hint of color.
'Cause I want this to be fairly diluted,
I'm gonna take two parts
of this light brown.
Okay, clean off your measuring tool
so you don't cross-contaminate.
And just one part amber.
I don't want a whole lot of amber color, just a little bit.
Okay, now, I need to dilute it pretty significantly.
These two are tests that I did
where I diluted it maybe five parts,
10 parts on the other one,
and they're still too intense.
There's just too much color there.
So, I use my little spray bottle,
and you can see, there's not really a whole lot in here.
I'm just gonna keep spraying
until I dilute it out far enough.
And then take a little bit, and try it on the surface.
Use this corner down here.
Now these dyes typically go on pretty dark.
The color looks good, but it might look
a little bit too dark.
But as it drys, you get a little less intense color.
In fact, sometimes it just looks like crap
until you get your finish applied on top of it.
Okay.
So now what I'm seeing here,
these have a little bit too much intense color.
This one looks just around the point I want it to be
I don't know if that's gonna come across
in the camera the way I want it too,
but it looks a lot closer to natural oil finishes,
to this oil-based varnish,
than these other two did.
So that's the mixture I want to go with.
Now before I apply the dye to a surface like this,
a lot of times the raw wood is very thirsty.
So if it's manageable, on a small piece like this,
it certainly is, I still like to take a spray bottle,
even though I pre-raised the grain,
and I'm actually gonna pre-wet the wood
so it's not as aggressive when it soaks in.
There's already some water on the surface,
filling those pores.
Now when they dye goes on,
it'll actually go on a little bit more evenly,
'cause the woods not quite as thirsty.
Okay, so I'm gonna spread this dye around.
Now you can see, the left is just water,
and the right is my very dilute dye mixture.
Okay, you can see, it's not a huge difference,
but that may be just the amount of color
that we need to make it look good
under a water-based finish.
Now I'm gonna let this board dry for,
I don't know, four to six hours in my climate,
it's pretty dry and hot here,
so shouldn't have any problem letting it dry.
But it's water, so you'll know when it's dry
If you feel the surface, and it's cold and clammy,
a little bit damp, it's not ready yet.
Okay, so we're going to seal in that color.
Again, water-based dye,
we're gonna hit it with an alcohol-based finish here,
which is shellac, and that's gonna seal it in
so that our water-based top coat doesn't pull
any of that material with it.
Now even this alcohol-based material
has potential
to pull some of that color.
So if you can spray, that's really the best way to go,
because it'll lay down a nice, even coat.
If you wipe, you're almost surely gonna get some dye
on there, but it probably won't affect
the overall color when it's all said and done.
Now we talk about shellac a lot on the show,
but typically I go the lazy way,
what I find to be the easier way,
and I use this Bullseye Seal-Coat,
it's de-waxed shellac, it's about a two pound cut,
and it's what they would refer to as blond shellac.
It doesn't really have a whole lot of color to it.
And this is the stuff that I'm gonna use
between the coats of the other finishes
that we're experimenting with,
to seal that color in.
But in this case, we're gonna do something
a little different.
We're actually gonna mix our own from flakes.
And I just have enough, look at that.
So after about three or four hours,
shellac looks like it's pretty well dissolved.
We can go ahead and pour it into a secondary container.
And for this little sample piece,
we shouldn't have much of a problem.
That beautiful orange, amber kinda tone
that's being imparted into the wood,
that's exactly what we want.
Perfect.
And I think if you're not gonna spray
the water-based material,
this is probably the next best thing.
You could certainly use a nice brush,
if you're good with brushing technique,
which I am not.
Okay, so boiled linseed oil, you're first.
This applicator, nice.
Covers the whole thing in one shot.
Apply it to the dye.
Here's the orange shellac board.
And our natural board.
Alright, so we're gonna let these dry
for about three to four hours.
I'll sand between coats with 320 grit sandpaper,
and I'm probably gonna put on
a total of about three coats.
And that should do the trick.
Alright, so these results are really interesting.
Here's our oil control board,
and here's the water control board.
Now the interesting thing that I found,
it may just be the varnish that I use,
but I don't see as much of a dramatic difference
between my oil and water boards
as you might think, okay?
The water is certainly a little paler than the oil,
but it's not nearly as dramatic
as some of these others.
Now, I think I overdid it in some of these cases.
For instances, like the dye.
The dye was a little bit of an overshot,
compared to the oil.
It's a completely different thing.
But, certainly we're sort of skating in the same realm
as far as it looking oil-like.
What you'll notice with the dye though,
is that what we did was really pop the grain.
That dye sits down
into those really absorbent stripes there,
and actually intensifies the grain pattern,
and by popping that grain,
sort of gives it that oil look to begin with.
So, dye is definitely a viable option for sure,
but clearly is gonna take a little bit more work
to pinpoint and nail down
that perfect combination of colors.
Now here's an interesting comparison.
This is the boiled linseed oil,
and this is just a oil-based varnish.
And it just goes to show you
that boiled linseed oil really gives you
a lot of intense amber color imparted into the wood.
This maple has just turned a very orange-y, yellowish,
very, very light brown color,
so you can certainly get there
with that pre-coat of boiled linseed oil.
But you're gonna have to be very careful
of the adhesion issues,
and things we discussed,
but that shellac barrier should do the trick for you.
But now that becomes a three-step process
just to use water-based finish.
So although it works, it may not be the best option.
Now here's shellac.
The orange shellac that we got
from the Hawk Company was fantastic.
I think it turned out great,
and is probably the closest match to the oil
from what I can see,
from my perspective here.
And then you're only talking a two-step process:
a pre-coat of shellac, and then your water-based coat.
And you know what?
Almost all of my projects get a wash coat
of shellac on them, de-waxed shellac,
just because if there's any impurities on the surface,
or anything that's not visible to the naked eye,
it's a good idea to make sure
you put that shellac on there.
It's a light-sanding sealer, essentially.
And it's a great base coat
for anything that you want to top coat with,
whether it's lacquer, oil-based finish,
or in this case, water-based.
So shellac is gettin' a big thumbs up from me.
And again, here's the water-based.
I think what this says is that the water-based finishes
in general, are getting better and better,
and are looking more and more attractive.
I don't really think we have to worry about it
as much as we might have in the past.
Now keep in mind, all this changes
if you're using a dark wood.
Okay, water-based finishes
don't necessarily look great on dark woods,
because they have a little bit of a bluish hue,
and cast to them.
Maybe we'll delve into that a little bit later,
but for now, on lighter colored woods,
I think my recommendation,
any of these will work,
but I think what I would probably play with the most
would be the dye and the shellac.
And you can get the best of both worlds
by combining these two.
Maybe a pre-coat of dye,
cover that with some shellac
to seal that dye in.
Hit it with a water-based finish,
and you're gonna have a tough time pointing out
which one is the oil-based finish.
These finishes are getting really, really good.
So, experiment, have some fun with it,
these water-based finishes are a pleasure to use
in terms of just having it in the shop.
It's just not nearly as offensive to your senses
as the oil-based stuff.
But I think it's a successful little experiment,
and can kind of show you the differences
between the base coats,
and what you should use in your shops.
So give it a shot, let me know what your results are,
because this is just one experiment.
There's a thousand variations of this that you can do.
Let me know what you wind up doing.
Alright, thanks for watching,
and we'll catch you next time.
(groovy guitar music)