Observed Effects are Real; Explanations May Not Be

[Oldreefer44]

We can title it "the Oilus effect"

 

[Reefering1]

What is smaller than what?

Without knowing an answer (googling keeps saying the wrong size issue), I hypothesize several differences:

1. The organic solvents have a far lower surface tension than water, allowing it to penetrate smaller pores.

2. The pigments dispersed in organics may have smaller sizes than the pigments dispersed in water that may need surfactants to disperse well.

3 The wood may be somewhat hydrophobic in its pores, making organics penetrate more readily.

4. Organics may allow hydrophobic interactions holding adjacent cellulose molecules together to weaken, opening up the pores.

I picture it like painting a car base coat/clear.. when spraying that paint, a good painter will cut the paint with paint thinner and do extra coats. The thinner paint will flow better/ lay flat, giving the mirror finish(no orange peel). By the time the thinner evaporates out, the color has spread further and smoother. So maybe not "smaller" molecules, but molecules further apart might penetrate deeper?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Various oil based products provide differing levels of food that can fuel fungus and mold growth, turning some decks black very quickly. We can head on over to one of the woodworking forums and start a thread and experiments…

Better not get black fungus on a maple threshold between my kitchen and dining room. lol

 

[BeanAnimal]

Better not get black fungus on a maple threshold between my kitchen and dining room. lol

Nope.. just outdoors.

I prefer oil based urethanes for their tonal warmth and somewhat self healing nature and ease of maintenance.

Shellac is great as well.

I shy away from water based wood sealers unless odor is going to play a large role while curing and due to the fact that they can have issues with underlying oil based stains.

Regardless, whatever you choose will be great on maple indoors. I would consider a sanding sealer on the maple if you are going to use a stain or stained urethane. Maple can get pretty blotchy due to uneven pore density.

 

[BeanAnimal]

FWIW if anybody cares

For furniture I use ML Campbell stains and pre-cat lacquer (commercial product). There are other good high end brands, this is just what I use. If I am not going to spray pre-cat I use General Finishes products.

For general indoor urethane in wear areas like thresholds, typically Hellmsman Spar urethane (highly thinned) or shellac.

For decks… there really is nothing they I think is good anymore, so I settle for the Australian Timber Oil product from Cabot.


Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

[areefer01]

I am tired of chasing phosphate myths. Maybe we should discuss the experiments to conduct. Besides the lab I have a wood shop.

As a hobbyist who doesn't care about phosphates and had them peaking at 2.1 ppm what is this phosphate myth?

 

[rishma]

As a hobbyist who doesn't care about phosphates and had them peaking at 2.1 ppm what is this phosphate myth?

I laughed at this. I care too much about phosphates!

 

[Dan_P]

As a hobbyist who doesn't care about phosphates and had them peaking at 2.1 ppm what is this phosphate myth?

Myth #1: a phosphate concentration spike can occur after scraping the sides of an aquarium. @Miami Reef brought this to our attention a year ago and I observed it recently but could not reproduce the observation. We both probably saw an odd phosphate measurement but that it is caused by scraping the aquariums is in need of verification.

Myth #2: when you heat aquarium water to 212 F, you could see an increase in measured phosphate concentration caused by the hydrolysis of polyphosphate or organic phosphate. Again, a higher phosphate reading might be observed upon heating aquarium water but why it occurs needs to be established.

 

[Dan_P]

Various oil based products provide differing levels of food that can fuel fungus and mold growth, turning some decks black very quickly. We can head on over to one of the woodworking forums and start a thread and experiments…

:-)

 

[ElementReefer]

When are we gonna start talking about phlogiston?

 

[BeanAnimal]

When are we gonna start talking about phlogiston?

HC SVNT DRACONES… :grimacing-face: