First Coat

Today was my third day back in Vancouver after spending two weeks with G. My mind is absolutely full of memories and dreams of the future. My heart is somewhere is still in the UK with G, and thus I feel quite empty here. To maintain some level of sanity I decided that I needed to channel the urge to drive to the airport immediately into something much less satisfactory. I promised G that I would serve her coffee on the new table when she visits next, so I proceeded to the shop after work and after a quick final sand, I applied the first coat of oil finish to the 'project'.

For those of you (there seem to be quite a few of late) who are interested, the brew consisted of 40% boiled linseed oil, 40% tung oil, 10% turpentine, and a drop of japan drier. This is an old rifle makers stock finish. The linseed oil darkens the wood slightly, the tung oil is transparent but hard, and the turpentine is added for the first coat to improve penetration. The next coat will probably be 80% tung oil and 20% linseed oil to start a build up, but not darken the table too much. I will probably apply three coats of oil for depth and finish up with a decent carnuba wax to provide durability. After all, this is a dining room table meant for daily use, and not a piano. Vancouver is so cold and damp right now, nothing dries properly. I came close to a disaster yesterday when I applied an expoxy based home made wood filler to a knot hole. The epoxy didn't set initially so I cranked up the heat in the shop to save the table. I worked, and I hope the same luck will hold for the oil finish. So much to do and so little time. I need to double check the project priorities and see what is next!