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Wood finishing : sanding, oil and bee wax.

A project log for My Smart FishRoom/Animal Room

how i'm building my fishroom (aquariums), and what i do to automate it and make it smart.

audrey-robinelAudrey Robinel 01/11/2018 at 06:450 Comments

This project uses nice wood, so i went for a natural finish. First step was sanding :

As you can see, sanding dulls the figures of the wood, but it's not a problem, it will come back once some finish is applied.

Indeed, here is the same piece, with one fresh coat of transparant oil :

At this stage, the oil raises the grain of the wood. I thus sand it with fine grit sandpaper, with the oil still wet. This is a very light sanding, and it helps removing the risen wood grain, but doing it with the oil wet causes the wood dust to fill any cracks on the surface, giving a very soft touch.

With this oil, you're supposed to use a clean rag to remove any excess. In this case, i did apply just the right amount to save on product (that's my last bottle of transparant oil, and there's none at the store, so i wanted to be sure to be able to finish the pieces).


After a few hours (it's 27°C in here, tropical place, so no winter ;) ), it has dried, so i can sand lightly with fine grit sandpaper, then apply a second coat.  Rince and repeat for as many coats as wanted; recommanded is at least 3.

Indeed the second and third coat revels the figures of the wood even more; but i stopped there to conserve oil.

Since this oil doesn't release nasty chemicals in the air, i'll be able to add more coats later on, on the assembled rack in the fishroom (anything releasing dangerous chemicals is banned from the fishroom : shrimps are very sensitive, or at least supposed to be. I'm taking no chances here.).

On the picture above, you can see the oiled beams (still wet, you can see that it's milky before drying), as well as the oil can i used.

it is Syntilor Oil (natural finish) for furnitures and work surface. It has an A+ for emission rating, meaning very few emissions. It's easy to apply, gives a good finish and tools clean with water, so no need to use smelly chemicals to clean your brush.

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