Replies

1. 
   Brian_Hinther | Dec 26, 2009 09:44pm | #1

   Mineral spirits would be fine.

2. 
   WillGeorge | Dec 26, 2009 09:58pm | #2

   Turpentine is NOT one of my favorite smells...

   It is from wood! Learn to enjoy it? I would think low odor mineral spirits would be OK. Not sure though...

3. 
   AZMO | Dec 26, 2009 11:00pm | #3

   Mixing up my first batch tommorow and have been rereading the article. I think it made a strong point to have good ventilation or work outside. Lucky you and me we can do that at this time of year! Now I hate the smell of Mineral Spirits, so we will see how this goes...

   AZMO

1. 
   SheriDi | Dec 27, 2009 10:24am | #5

   Lucky you and me we can do that at this time of year!

   Are you kidding? It's been a brutal winter this year. Why, I don't think we've hit 70 degrees in over 2 weeks :)

   I'd be curious to see what you think of the recipe.

   Thanks all for the comments.

   Sheri

1. 
   AZMO | Dec 28, 2009 01:56pm | #8

   WO is Us who Must Suffer the cold and misery of 50 degree days....

   Personally I like the smell.... but I have a fan blowing air out of the shop and a double garage door that is open. So that is really not an issue. I closed up the shop and turned on a small 1500 heater last night to dry things thouroughly. I will open it all to vent it out to work again. None of these finishes are good for you, though you can eat dry shellac.

   Steve has a good point about the varnish part. No reason not to brush on coat straight. The table top of my projects will be a Poly top coat over shellac with transtint color, must resist Nyquil stains etc.. I have used MinWax tung oil finish, which Steve would tell you is about the same thing as Hot Rod Varnish, and it has not held up well over 25years. 3 coat Alkld(sp) Varnish that I applied as a boy on some old dressers etc are still perfectly serviceable. I do like the way the Hot Rod varnish pops the Cherry color, and with two coats you have a nice smooth flat surface for a final brush coat. Now if I could just get Steve to come out for a vacation I know I have a brush that would fit him.. ;>)

   Morgan (who misses his spell checker....)

4. 
   Gretchen | Dec 27, 2009 06:22am | #4

   Yes, it will be fine.

5. 
   sapwood | Dec 27, 2009 11:44am | #6

   I've always had the
   I've always had the impression that finishers think that turpentine is rather benign to the human body. But actually its one of the nastier things one can inhale. Mineral spirits is much less damaging and is quite a suitable replacement.

6. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 28, 2009 11:19am | #7

   Whether you use turpentine or mineral spirits in any mix of oil and varnish is almost entirely irrelevant. It may evaporate at a slightly different rate, and turpentine may contribute an insignificant amount of residual resin. But, if there is search yet implemented, looking at past threads will uncover a significant number of objections to the "hot rod" concoction, as it is used. Oil/varnish mixes have a very valuable role, but that role is in providing an easy to restore, in-the-wood finish that doesn't build any surface film. Oil/varnish is best applied allowed to penetrate for a short time (say 20 minutes) and then thoroughly wiped off.

   If you want a easy to apply film finish on the surface, then a wiping varnish is more appropriate. It will be much tougher and more durable.

7. 
   popawheelie | Dec 28, 2009 02:22pm | #9

   I "think" the turpentine is slower eveporating than the mineral spirits. It will level better with the turpentine.

   Not by much though.