protecting a new door

i have a new hardwood door on the inside of an existing porch.i would like to protect it for now.in the future i will stain it

but not sure what shade, and i wont be painting it.
can i use linseed oil either boiled or raw? or would you recommend something else

 

If it's bare wood, I'd just use water based (quick dry) clear satin varnish.

 

Be aware that if you are intending to stain it in the future, water based stains (and some oil/solvent based) will not take well over any linseed oil that you apply now.

 

my mate in the rugby team is in the trade and he had his doubts, suggested i post on here and get a few second opinions. i will go with something water based, not the linseed oil
cheers guys

 

I wouldn't go for water based- it will raise the grain and you will need to sand the swell back. Then you will need to sand again after the second coat swells the bit that you just sanded...

Danish oil might be better or look at the sadolin range

Or bite the bullet and use shellac polish

 

That would also be the same with oil based varnish or worse. If you worried about that everytime you had to paint wood, then you'd never paint or varnish any wood ..ever.

 

Oil based is NGR- (non grain raising). Granted it might be hairy/coarse after the first coat but it won't have swollen the grain.

The sanding required will often not go through the first coat and thus the problem is not replicated as the next coat is applied.

The same is not true of waterbased varnishes.

If you don't care about raised grain then yes the water based will be more convenient to use.

 

Totally disagree with that.
Oil based varnishes have always raised the grain and it will need rubbing down the same as would oil based primers for paint.
In fact I'd say with all the water based stain and clear varnishing I've done on stripped doors etc...water based needs less rubbing down and is far easier to rub down than oil varnish.

 

ive just read this after a few beers and im more co nfused than ever

 

why don't you just stain it now rather than waiting and let the stain soak into the wood and show of the grain?

 

Terence,

I can understand your confusion here, before further advice is offered do you know if the door was pre-treated, and if so with what.

Dec

 

Hi Growler

It seems that my experiences have been different to yours.

Just out of interest have you ever primed MDF (a wood based product) with both oil based and waterbased? If yes which of the two had more substantial grain raising?

My question is largely rhetorical. Ironically the oil based will feel slightly rougher but it will have had swollen very few of the fibres. The waterbased will seem smoother but will have significantly swollen the surface fibres (having penetrated less deeply).

Once the oil based has dried it will sand to a fine powder. Admittedly the drying to sanding period will be days rather than hours. The cheaper acrylic primers, eg leyland, will be sandable in hours rather than days but will require more extensive sanding to flatten the swelling. The more expensive acrylic primers , eg Dulux trade will be a pain to sand and overheat, continually clogging the paper.

That said, I do use the inferior Leyland acrylic due to speed of application and time till sandable

As an aside- even waterbased makers admit that that their products will raise the grain. Some claim that this is one time only process. Never-the-less, if the wood has been stained first there remains the risk of sanding through any stain.

 

The answer is no to your MDF question.

Now, back to terence's hardwood door
The Dec asks a good question which is why I initially said "If it's bare wood, I'd just use water based (quick dry) clear satin varnish, because that pic looks a bit odd. I did several new hardwood doors in a flat last year and finished the lot in a day!! with a bit of antique pine in the clear water based satin to finish.
I'd not got the slightest problem with them rubbing down as it was easy. You'd be lucky to get that amount of doors done in a week if you'd use oil based varnish as the damn stuff does raise the grain and wont dry.

Incidentally Terence - don't use Solo, as it's not appropriate for this kind of work.

Right.. I'm just going to catch up on that nice Emily Scott in the jungle now.

 

Emily Scott, you dirty old booger, I would far rather give her two coats of the liquid gold.

Dec

 

afaik the door was not pretreated