Need finish help...

Re: Need finish help...

Don Henthorn Smithville, Texas

>Bubbabob, because I am cheap I just assume that thickness is due to the loss of solvent not to the product curing. I just add a little of the appropriate solvent and give it a try. Usually works. But don't fault me if it doesn't. I'm not too bright.

Re: Need finish help...

Russ Fairfield

>Oils cure (we call it drying) by molecular crosslinking or polymerization. The only purpose of the thinner is to make it more workable and reduce the thickness of the oil film on and in the wood. Fewer molecules is why a thinned oil will cure faster than one that isn't.

Any time a finish starts getting thicker, it is because the oil is starting to polymerize. Tung Oil does that faster than most other finishing oils, except Walnut. There is nothing wrong with using the thicker oil as a finish, but it will cure slower. The older it gets, the longer it will take to cure. When it starts gettin a rubbery consistency, it will never cure.

Use more thinner if you have to, but you will have to wait longer.

Re: Need finish help...

GeeSeaWhy

>I use Formby's Tung Oil Finish, which is an oil/varnish blend. When it starts to get thick it remains usable but gets sticky and more difficult to work into the wood. It also dries faster, almost too fast to be workable.

Try your oil on a piece of scrap and see what you think.

Graeme

Thanks folks...

BubbaBob

>...I'll give it a go this afternoon, and just be patient between drying cycles/additional coats. Humidity is way down here now, so maybe I can use the same three days between applications that I normally use when our humidity is up.

Again thanks.

From the mountains of N GA...

In my bib overalls,

BubbaBob

Drying time

R.J. "Sam" Simpson

>Hi Y'all,

Bubba, as usual Russ has all the right answers.

My personal regimen is not to use any oil products that are old. I would consider your early polymerization condition to be a defect. As Russ states, it is going to slow things down. You can cheat it a little by warming things up and give a kick to the chemical reaction. But by my calculation of the drying time added to three coats of old finish, you would save time by waiting until the stores are open on Monday, when you can purchase fresh and faster drying product.

Regards Sam Simpson.