Tung Oil Finish Question

Re: Tung Oil Finish Question

Sean Troy

>Hi, I,ve seen it done where 8-10 coats are applied and rubbed down with brown paper such as a grocery bag after each coat has dried. Carnuba can be used to buff after the final coat , but with or without the wax, you should get a great finish. Good luck, Sean

Re: Tung Oil Finish Question

John Lucas

>I used to finish everything that way but used Johnsons Paste wax. The pieces looked great after the handrubbed tung oil but they feel so much better after the wax is applied. It always gets a good response from the customers.

Re: Tung Oil Finish Question

Earl

>If your final coat of tung oil has specks of dust in it, you can rub Johnson's Paste Wax or MinWax in with 0000 steel wool. Saturate the steel wool real well with the wax and you will get a glassy smooth finish. The wax will prevent any dulling of the tung oil. I learned the trick 40 years ago from a furniture maker and have used it on everything I have made with wood from intarsia to fine furniture cabinets and it has never failed.

Earl

Re: Tung Oil Finish Question

Dennis Taylor (Akron, Ohio)

>Can someone post the procedure for applying tung oil and wax to a turned piece... I have applied tung oil to scrolled items, and applied a wax and didn't get a great finish, no sheen, seemed to dull it really....Dennis

Re: Tung Oil Finish Question

Robert Savit

>You might want to think about waiting longer than a day to buff out the final coat. In my experience, waiting a day to sand and recoat is fine, but it can take up to a week or two for the finish to fully cure, and your final buffing procedure will probably yield better results if the final coat of finish is fully cured.

Bob Savit

Re: Tung Oil Finish Question

Whit

>Bob's got a good point. It may well take a week or two for the finish to polymerize. That is, for the chemicals in the finish to change into longer molecules and become stable (I know I'm oversimplifying). At least, that's how I understand it.

Whit

Re: Tung Oil Finish Question

Chuck Ludwigsen

>Thanks for the direction, folks. I appreciate it. I think I'm going to buff this coat out with 4-O and do at least one more coat before letting it set a week before I apply the Paste wax.

I think that is the mistake I've made in the past with Tung Oil that caused the dull finish - not waiting for the Tung Oil to cure enough on the final coat.

Thanks again for everyone's help. This bowl may get plenty of time to cure as I still have several pens to turn before Father's day.

Chuck in Memphis, TN.

Re: Tung Oil Finish Question

Earl

>When I make furniture, tung oil seems to saturate and therefore dry much faster than it does on turned pieces. While I'm no chemist, I suspect it is becauase turned pieces are sanded to a much higher level, so the wood is much more dense with less open pores for the oil to penetrate. I agree you have to wait longer and it seems like put more coats on the achieve a nice depth and sheen.