Oil for Oak...which smells nice?

jerrytug

jerrytug

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Hello I have just agreed a deal on some kiln dried English Oak, which I am really looking forward to turning into some bunk boards, handrails, shelving etc in my 24 footer.
I plan to sand it reasonably smooth and oil it, my question is..
which oil should I use, to show the grain, and in particular to give the intoxicating aroma of a creaking wooden museum piece to my 41-yr old Hurley, to mask the plasticky tang of a seagoing 1973 Austin Allegro, which it actually is?
 
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Leave a pot of Stockholm tar in the bilges to create the aroma and bright finish the oak with a durable non sticky finish of your choice. My choice would be a satin polyurethane varnish.
 
I use Linseed oil for just about everything (wood). Several coats, letting each coat dry thoroughly. When it IS dry, you can sand and varnish it. Get it from an Agricultural or Equestrian supplier (it is used as a food suplement). I pay €16 per gallon, as opposed to about that per litre in the hardware shop.
 
jerrytug said:
Hello I have just agreed a deal on some kiln dried English Oak,
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Why do you not stick it on ebay & use the cash to buy some top quality veneerd MDF !!!!!!!

Joking aside - have you seen the oak yet? English oak can be real Carp & only Ok for short pieces
If it has been kiln dried it will probably swell like /////
 
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Well DB it's the first time I've used it, I'm fed up with plywood, all the interior joinery is plywood.
I have been offered this oak from a forumite, who has a sawmill connection and last time I bought something from him, a sail, I was very happy.
Water content is 7% I believe, is that bad? It's for bunks, shelves, strengthening a bulkhead, etc.
I expect to be delighted actually, I'm looking forward to the work for a change!
 
"English oak can be real Carp & only Ok for short pieces
If it has been kiln dried it will probably swell like ///// "


ummm, there is oak, and proper oak. :) Planked trees which have been sitting outside in large, properly supervised stacks for 2 or 3 years, then slowly dried, then worked on will not swell. Especially if they are properly acclimatised to their final environment before being worked on.
 
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sarabande said:
"English oak can be real Carp & only Ok for short pieces
If it has been kiln dried it will probably swell like ///// "


ummm, there is oak, and proper oak. :) Planked trees which have been sitting outside in large, properly supervised stacks for 2 or 3 years, then slowly dried, then worked on will not swell. Especially if they are properly acclimatised to their final environment before being worked on.
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The OP says his timber is dried to 7% which is about as low as one would go. Stick a moisture meter on the woodwork inside your house ( assuming no floods ) & you will not go much below this
What happens is that that moisture level will only stay that way in a similar environment ( Ie the House of Lords where I supplied a considerable amount of English Oak joinery 25 years ago where they refurbished some offices)
If you imagine now putting that in a damp environment ask yourself if it is going to stay at 7%
I used to use a lot of Iroko in window cills due to its durability. I rarely used kiln dried but used to go for well air dried timber if poss at about ( from memory a long time since I sold up) 17%
air dried puts less tension in the wood & has less tendency to distort as it adjusts the moisture content to the surrounding conditions
I think that the OP has been sold the idea of kiln dried but may have not considered the after effects.
I wonder if they have sold him log sawn !!ie with the waney edge still on one edge of the timber or square edged both sides
Of course carefull selection of timber & constructional detailing can overcome any movement problems- Typically cut into thin strips & laminate back together or making joints that can expand & contract
the cut of the logs also has an effect . ie just sliced ( as English will most likely be-) or radially cut ( very expensive)
If the curvature of the log runs along the long width of timber it will bow. if it runs across the plank as in radially cut it will swell but bow less
 
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Hi DB I don't know it's 7%, that figure was in my mind for some reason, could be mistaken.

Please don't suggest that I have been 'sold' something or talked in to some dodgy deal, the person supplying the wood is an English gentleman of the highest order as far as I am concerned.

I don't have vast experience of hardwood, although I've crewed on a few old sailing vessels, going back to 1808, over the last couple of decades and loved the ambience and character, although I don't have the skill or money to run one, which is why all my boats have been steel or 'frozen snot'.

That's very interesting what you write about the humidity and so on, I will definitly bear in mind that things may expand across the grain, I know that such expansion was once used to split rocks in quarries, so is an almost irresistable force and could wedge my deck away from the hull or something, if I did not allow for it!

One question I do wonder is, what is oak like for sticking to epoxy or polyester resin? ( having failied miserably trying to glue some resinous hardwood in the past)
cheers Jerry
 
"I've crewed on a few old sailing vessels, going back to 1808"; didn't know you went that far back, Jerry. I'd say kiln dried will expand for certain but distortion will depend on the way it's sawn. Look for the boards with the annual grain rings going from top to bottom (the short way).
It's partic hot and dry at the mo. Can you stack it undercover for a month or two to reach an equilibrium with likely boat moisture. If it could then be remachined, some distortion would be removed.
Mebbe the distortion would match the curves you need - it worked for the Victory.
Don't expect you will use them but ordinary steel or galvanized fixing react badly with tannic acid in oak. I've no knowledge about stainless.
 
Thanks for that Spuddy, I will use non ferrous fasteners..and allow for a substantial swelling when things get moist!
The 1808 was the Boadicea out of interest, a gaff cutter CK smack, in a Maldon regatta. She really must be the oldest one kicking about.
 
Oh yes, and my twopennorth on finish - just me, but I'm not keen on polyurethane, it's very hard and so quite brittle. I used it on dinghies ages ago and it peeled as a film - the wood moved and the varnish didn't. Satin varnish praps?
 
On a boat where the humidity is going to be high I think you need to completely seal the wood. Probably the most successful way would be with epoxy followed by some varnish. Otherwise it would be better to let it acclimatise otherwise it might pop joints etc. It will expand and, depending on grain, warp. If you work it after it has acclimatised then most of the problems are alleviated although there will be a variation in moisture content over a year. I would seal it.
 
jerrytug said:
Hello I have just agreed a deal on some kiln dried English Oak, which I am really looking forward to turning into some bunk boards, handrails, shelving etc in my 24 footer.
I plan to sand it reasonably smooth and oil it, my question is..
which oil should I use, to show the grain, and in particular to give the intoxicating aroma of a creaking wooden museum piece to my 41-yr old Hurley, to mask the plasticky tang of a seagoing 1973 Austin Allegro, which it actually is?
Click to expand...


Linseed oil & Turpentine (not white spirit).
Keep it shiny and non-greasy with beeswax and turpentine polish and elbow grease.
(make the polish with equal volumes of beeswax and turpentine, heat then bottle. lasts years and smells sublime).
 
I would use Osmo Poly X for the finish - much more durable than varnish (which will peel and look horrible after a few years) and much easier to maintain. (Much as I like the smell of pure turps, the linseed oil/turps finish needs more elbow grease to apply and more time to dry thoroughly - it might just be the smell you're after though).
It glues very well with epoxy - I've done lots of laminating work and always use SP 105 - never had a problem with it. As said above, stainless or silicone bronze fastenings must be used to avoid staining.
Decent English oak is far better than the awful foreign muck most merchants seem to sell these days.
 
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agurney said:
Linseed oil & Turpentine (not white spirit).
Keep it shiny and non-greasy with beeswax and turpentine polish and elbow grease.
(make the polish with equal volumes of beeswax and turpentine, heat then bottle. lasts years and smells sublime).
Click to expand...

Sealing wood with epoxy works great on ply but don't use it on real timber. Linseed oil, typically mixed with tung oil and no varnish is what I'd prefer. It does however attract dirt and will darken a little with age. Saturate the wood with oil, wipe any excess off and repeat after about 8 hours. Over the course of a few months the oil hardens and prevents the wood from swelling as it won't absorb moisture. Polish with wax if you want. Raw linseed oil doesn't smell too pleasant, often they mix it with orange oil. I'm quite fond of Le Tonkinois "huiles bio impression" but of course there are others.
An oil finish won't be as hard wearing as varnish or PU paint but it's easy to touch up and doesn't crack.
 
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