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Appreciation post: Oil stains brought an old table back to life for me
I was totally hooked on gel stains for the longest time... they seemed so foolproof and clean. But then I got this beat-up oak table from a flea market, all scratched and dull. Gel stain left it looking kinda plastic, you know? On a lark, I dug out some linseed oil and pigment from the back of my shop. Rubbed it in by hand, real slow... the wood drank it up and the grain popped like I'd never seen. Now I get why the old timers talked about oils with such respect. It's not just about color, it's about feeling the wood breathe again. I'm not tossing gels for everything, but for character pieces... oil's the way.
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ryan623mo ago
Wow, oil brings the wood back to life, not just colors it.
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charlie_jones353mo ago
Yeah I get what you mean but I see it a bit different. To me, the oil just makes the grain pop and adds some shine, but it's not really bringing it back from being dry or dead, lol. Like if the wood is already in rough shape, @ryan62, oil just makes it look wet for a while.
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ivan_murphy802mo ago
Totally agree with you there. Had an old workbench top that was basically gray and bone dry. Slapped some oil on it and yeah, it looked good for a week but then went right back to looking sad. Ended up having to sand it down a fair bit first to open up the wood again, then the oil actually soaked in and lasted.
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