[redeared]

Someone has asked me to finish their dining table with Rubio Monocoat Pure 2C, has, anyone have experience with it?. They say it is raw wood and all they have used on it is Bono wood cleaner.

 

[Jim Frye]

I don't have any experience with the Rubio monocote. My experience with refinishing furniture concerns what was used on the piece prior to my getting my hands on it. The Bona cleaners are pretty innocuous and don't appear to contain silicones which will most likely interfere with finishing products (fish eyes), so as long as nothing has really been used on the table but the Bona, you should be OK. Just make sure the surface is thoroughly cleaned, dewaxed, and dust free before embarking on using a finish that is new to you. Perhaps a practice piece with the Rubio prior to using it on the real thing.

 

[redeared]

I always ask what they use before hand (been burned a few times)

 

[Tom-G]

A raw wood dining table? Another concern would be what may have spilled on it and then wiped up during normal use.

 

[GSXRFanIM]

Watching this thread as I have noticed that finish floating around quite a bit lately.
Never really heard of it but after stumbling on a "Whats your favorite finish" thread somewhere else, quite a few were for the Rubio Monocoat
Looked it up and seen the price tag and figured "it must be gooood S%$T" LOL

 

[Bernie_72]

Watching this thread as I have noticed that finish floating around quite a bit lately.
Never really heard of it but after stumbling on a "Whats your favorite finish" thread somewhere else, quite a few were for the Rubio Monocoat
Looked it up and seen the price tag and figured "it must be gooood S%$T" LOL

It seems a lot of the wood working YouTubers have moved over to Rubio Monocoat over the last few years. Especially people who are making wood slab/epoxy tables. The product looks interesting but at that price I haven't had the desire to try it out.

 

[shoot summ]

Used it on this slab table, I really like it, I wanted something that did not darken the piece too much, and let the growth rings show.. The recommendations seemed to be to sand to 220 or so. This was a large end grain piece so I went to 320. After the first application it seemed like it would take more so I mixed up a bit more, and wet sanded with 400. When it dried I buffed it with a large rotary buffer and wool bonnet, really burnished the surface. When I was done I applied a coat of Mahoney's oil wax finish, let it dry, and buffed it again.

 

[Quickstep]

I haven't used Rubio Monocoat, but I've used Osmo which is also a hard wax oil. Hard wax oils are not film finishes, so the wood must really be raw, because it won't dry otherwise. It won't build gloss as high as say, lacquer, but it makes a beautiful satin finished as evidenced by Shoot Summ.

 

[firehawkmph]

I used the Rubio monocoat on this end table. In their instructions they say to only sand to 180. I went to 320 and just let it sit for a few extra minutes before I cleaned off any excess. It is a bit pricey, so just mix up what you need and use the plastic squeeze that comes with it. I used a small foam brush to get the edges that the squeegee wouldn't. It does dry to a very slick finish. Very simple to use also.
Mike Hawkins

 

[Quickstep]

Shootsumm and Firehawkmph, I’m assuming you guys are using the 2 part Rubio Monocoat. Do you know what the second part is? Is it like a catalyzed finish? How long do you have to work it?

 

[shoot summ]

Shootsumm and Firehawkmph, I’m assuming you guys are using the 2 part Rubio Monocoat. Do you know what the second part is? Is it like a catalyzed finish? How long do you have to work it?

I did use the 2 part, part 2 is an accelerator which I assume is a catalyst, I has a long work time, product description states a 7 day cure time, no idea what the catalyst is. I left the unused portion in a small cup, it took over a day or two for it to be noticeably solidified.

I was initially had some reluctance to use the product due to the cost, and wasn't certain 3.5L was enough, it was plenty. I will buy it again without hesitation.

 

[firehawkmph]

Like Shootsumm said, I also used the two part. You do have plenty of time to work with it. Once it is on the surface, you are supposed to wipe off any excess after a few minutes. If you wait too long, it will start to harden up and it will take a little more elbow grease to remove. Anything stubborn can easily be removed with a white scotchbrite pad without doing any damage to the surface. It leaves a very smooth feeling finish. When I was reading up on it before I bought some, I found that you can put a second coat on after waiting a number of days to make sure the first coat has cured. The second coat along with some light buffing with a lambs wool buff is supposed to produce a little more sheen. I didn't do that however, I was happy after the first coat. All in all, I found it very easy to use and it produced good results. I will use it again.
Mike Hawkins

 

[Tool Agnostic]

Shootsumm and Firehawkmph, I’m assuming you guys are using the 2 part Rubio Monocoat. Do you know what the second part is? Is it like a catalyzed finish? How long do you have to work it?

I was curious about the hype around Rubio Monocoat Oil Plus 2C finish. I read the marketing information about it on their website. They say it it is a "hard wax oil finish" without many details about its composition. It comes in two parts: Part A is "Oil Plus" and Part B is "Accelerator". There is very little information about them, other than you mix them in a 3 to 1 ratio.

I turned to the MSDS documents. It wasn't easy to find the Part B MSDS. Their website displays the Part A form when you click on the Part B link. (Was it deliberate?) I hacked the URL to see the MSDS for part B. Here they are. Go to Section 3 to see the chemicals involved:
Original Source, their MSDS Page. Note the bad Part B link:
https://www.monocoat.us/rubio-monocoat-msds/
MSDS for Part A:
https://www.monocoat.us/content/pdf/SDS_Rubio Monocoat Oil Plus 2C - comp. A_EN.pdf
MSDS for Part B:
https://www.monocoat.us/content/pdf/SDS_Rubio Monocoat Oil Plus 2C - comp. B_EN.pdf

Here are helpful articles that explain the hexamethylene diisocyanate oligomers and 1,6-diisocyanatohexane that are in part B, as well as information about HDI trimer and HDI biuret:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexamethylene_diisocyanate
https://adi.americanchemistry.com/A...s-Explained/What-Are-Aliphatic-Diisocyanates/

Based on what I read above, my guess is that Part A is processed (heated?) linseed oil with carnauba and maybe other waxes. That's just a guess and not a known fact. My hunch comes from what is not said in the Part A MSDS, along with their use of the terms, "Oil Plus" and "hard wax oil finish."

I am "impressed" with their marketing hype. Things like:

• Under "Durable protection", they mention "molecular bonding technology" - Is that a fancy way to say, "The linseed oil soaks into the wood and polymerizes just like all linseed oil finishes"?
• Under "Natural Ingredients, 0% VOCs" they lead off with "Rubio Monocoat oil is 0% VOC and does not contain any water or solvents. ..." - Well, yeah. The key word here is the lower case "oil" in the statement. Pure linseed oil finishes contain no VOCs. They are also "natural" until you mix in chemical additives. Rubio Monocoat conveniently forgot to mention the hexamethylene diisocyanate oligomers and 1,6-diisocyanatohexane in the Part B accelerator that you mix in with their finish. (Those chemicals are probably not considered VOCs, but I would not call them "natural" either.)

In a strict sense, they speak truth, but their wording is carefully crafted to mislead casual readers.

Bottom line:
-> My best guess is that it is a high-priced linseed oil finish with wax. The difference is that they include a separate chemical additive (hardener) that is mixed in by the consumer just before use. Part B is a chemical additive that provides extra hardening and abrasion resistance, which may give the product an advantage for some applications. I have not seen those additives used in other linseed oil finishes.

If you have a high wear/durability project (e.g., flooring, tables that take a lot of abuse, etc.) and want to use an oil finish, Rubio Monocoat will be better than other ordinary oil finishes. The hardeners in its Part B will provide more protection than typical oil finish polymerization alone. They are expensive, but so are other "boutique" oil finishes that I can name. I do not know how well their durability compares with other finishes for high wear/durability projects, such as polyurethanes, etc.

Glossary of Acronyms:
MSDS = Material Safety Data Sheet
HDI = hexmethylene diisocyanate
VOC = volatile organic compound

DISCLAIMER: I am not a chemical expert. All I did was a little research and some careful reading.