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I am working on my finishing and changing a few things. If I use Danish Oil do (or should) I still need to use shellac as a top coat? Just curious as they both are sealants and would kinda be doing double duty.

I do not use Danish oil on pipes, but I do use it on knife handles. You'll still need to buff and polish afterwards, but you won't need shellac.

--K

Depends on what kind of finish you want. Really shiny/smooth/glass finish you will need another seal on top of the danish oil. If you want semi gloss and visible wood texture then danish oil and wax is ok. It will help lock in color, but not completely. The wax will only protect temporarily as well, so I tend to think of it as an aid under my finish seal rather than the final seal.

Also, drying time is painfully slow.

Danish oil will give you a nice, low-luster shine. You can also put wax on top of it with no problems.

Danish oil should dry within 24 hours, if not less time. Briar is pretty dense, so it doesn't soak up much. On regular furniture applications, you would put on several coats at 15-30 minute intervals as it soaks in, but I don't get much soaking in with briar. You don't need much on a pipe.

The commercially-made stuff is fine, but it's mostly thinner. You can make your own by mixing equal parts vegetable oil, mineral spirits, and varnish. I like safflower oil, as it doesn't go rancid. You can also play with the ratios if you want.