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The Three Sisters Project Finish Sanding and Oiling

Hi Everyone,

I had a little spare time this afternoon and we all know that I cant resist working in the wood shop even its only for 5 minutes. So I decided to finish sanding the square and the ash plates.

Here we go:

Here is the finished ash plate. Ive sanded it to 400 grit and polished the surface with 0000 steel wool. Its ready for oiling at this point:


I love oil finishes. They make wood look so beautiful and you can feel the wood with your hands when its finished. There isnt a layer between you and the wooden object. I like to use Tried and True varnish oil. Its linseed oil with a dryer added to it. Linseed oil  finishes are an old time type of a finish but the bad part about them is that it can take several weeks to a month for the finish to dry and cure. The dryer in this cut that down to about 24-36 hours.

The trick to using this is to use this product at room temperature (since its so cold here I keep it in my house. I dont think storing at really low temps is good for this), and to apply multiple thin coats of oil with at least 36 hours of drying time between coats of oil. This product is the consistency and color of honey so it doesnt take a lot to oil something.

The surface should be free of all wood dust and so should your hands. You should only rub in enough to barely wet the surface and then set it aside for about an hour. If after an hour there is any wet spots on the surface, you should take a clean cloth and gently rub that away and then let your item dry:



Ok, time to oil. This is always my favorite part of any project.

Drum Roll!!

Here is a photo of the ash plate with half of the surface oiled and the other half still un oiled:



 And here is a photo of the cumaru plate:



Im going to let both just sit for an hour and then Ill take another look at them and if they need it, Ill rub down the surface to take away any excess oil.

The walnut plate has some tear out and that is going to have to be sanding completely away before I do the finish sanding and oiling. I will take pictures and post them in a day or two when thats done.

All of the plates will get two coats of oil and Ill post finish photos before I mail them off.

VW