The last few weeks have been filled with finishing experiments for “The Stick Chair Book” that answer some minor questions I had about paint, soap and linseed oil/beeswax finishes.
One question I can’t answer: Does anyone know what’s in Odie’s Oil at $130 for a quart? (Wrong answers only.)
One of the finishing projects I’ve been working on is to show some of the possible color combinations of the “Far East Wales” finish. (Why do I call it by this name? The answer is here.) I also wanted to see if the finish worked OK with shellac instead of lacquer. Answer: Yes, it works great. And I wanted to see if I could get away with applying only one coat of base color instead of two. Answer: Yes, again!
So here’s the updated procedure I used for the following finish samples.
- Apply a base coat of water-based film-forming paint, such as acrylic or latex.
- Apply two coats of shellac or lacquer by brushing, wiping or spraying.
- As soon as the finish is dry, apply a second coat of a water-based film-forming paint.
- When the paint flashes from wet to dry, you can begin the blistering process. You will get more dramatic results the sooner you start blistering.
- Use a heat gun on its highest setting (or a propane torch) to heat the paint. Heat a small area (about four square inches) then use a paint scraper to remove the blisters. Work the entire project this way.
- Use a woven 3M gray pad or steel wool to smooth all surfaces and remove any loose paint.
- Apply a black wax (I use Liberon black bison wax). When it flashes, buff it off with a coarse cotton cloth, such as a huck towel.
I tried a bunch of different color combinations using the paints we had in our finishing cabinet. I was surprised by how much I liked the bright colors, especially the yellows, with this finish. Here are a few sample boards. All paint colors are from the General Finishes Milk Paint (not a milk paint but an acrylic) line of paints.
— Christopher Schwarz
Note: I haven’t tried this process with any casein-based paints, so I don’t know if they will work as the base coat (my guess on this is yes, it will work) or the topcoat of color (my guess is no, it will not work). So feel free to experiment with this yourself.
Odium? Can be quite expensive, I hear …
It’s my understanding that Odie’s is using unicorn hoof for the finish. The leprechaun farriers provide the material in powder form.
Odie? Isn’t that John Arbuckle’s dog?
Any thoughts about dog related products I think I’ll keep to myself…
It’s made from polymerized snake oil
It’s the stuff that dreams are made of.
heres a technique that is also fun on ageing that finish… brush some shellac on an area and immediately light a match and watch it bubble up ….do it outside of course….fire marshall’s have a thing about us lighting finishes on fire in our shops… it gives a great aged appearance… or a good way to be rid of a lousy chair…
My guess on the Oldies is snake oil, harvested humanely from the invade Florida Everglades Python.
In private correspondence, Mr Garfield reveal to me that the secret finish ingredient is virgin canine slobber.
https://heroes-and-villians.fandom.com/wiki/Odie
Odie’s Oil is likely antique crankcase oil from a ‘57 Chevrolet, that has been filtered through a used Joe Namath gym sock.
At the cost-to-volume ratio, I believe Oddie’s is made from printer ink.
Each can holds a $130 bill, dissolved in solvent. They’re currently losing money on each sale and will be raising their prices soon.
I really like the basil over sunglow.
Odie is a very large dog… who drools, Drools so much that collection of the offending liquid fills several cans each day. What to do, what to do with all this drool? Need a thickening agent for a finish, spit works for shoe shining, lets add drool to paint!
The secret is having a leprechaun fart in each can right before they seal the lid.
Odie’s Oil is harvested from the follicles of red-headed child actors.
No, wait. That’s Opie’s Oil.
The main ingredient of odie’s oil is John’s TV remote with trace amounts of garfield’s lasagna.
So, the intent is to distress the finish to give a new chair and old-age appearance?
I actually did a lot of research and found out what is in Odies. Its basically made from a proprietary blend of top secret but all natural ingredients that may or may not have been used in the space program by navy seals working at NASA that we must never speak of. Not to be confused with Richard Simmon’s Sweatin to the Odies workout VHS.
It’s clearly made from the remaining stock of spermaceti. It has been illegal to harvest whales since 1972 so the price keeps going up. This is a good thing since Mr. Spock needs them to divert the space probe that will otherwise evaporate the oceans.
Its made from the oils carefully hand-brushed from the feathers of sustainably raised emperor penguins
$130 a quart is expensive but you failed to mention 1 quart of Odies = one 55 gallon drum of regular finish
If you’re looking for a less economical but more mysterious oil, try Moebius.
http://www.julesborel.com/s.nl/it.A/id.31332/.f
It’s only $141.67 for 20ml.
Ambergris is the secret ingredient. Only a small amount is sufficient to send the price into the stratosphere and make it a super exclusive product.
Odies was distilled from the fat of the long extinct Great Auk and Dodo birds. A few dozen barrels were stockpiled by the Czars in a hunting lodge in Kamchatka for some unknown future use. This stockpile was maintained after the Revolution and only in the decades since the fall of the Soviet Union has it become available to the West.
If you feel something hit you in your back after buying Odies oil…….it’s your change
Don’t have an Odie joke but do want to point you toward Sinopia milk paint which is pretty nice stuff.
I also don’t have an answer to the Odie question. But I have an observation. I don’t get it. The finishes.