The LIES and confusion of Tung Oil wood finish

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Coinneach said:
Formbys, do you mean Formbys Furniture Restorer ?
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No, he means Formbys Tung Oil finish. Company went out of business a few years ago. It was a go-to finish for many wood workers. As stated, it was a polymerized varnish. New old stock can still be purchased on Amazon for $100 a quart. Other options today do not justify the price.
 
NavyDoc76-80 said:
No, he means Formbys Tung Oil finish. Company went out of business a few years ago. It was a go-to finish for many wood workers. As stated, it was a polymerized varnish. New old stock can still be purchased on Amazon for $100 a quart. Other options today do not justify the price.
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Thanks for replying.
 
Was asked to upload some pics of my project. Hope this works. First time trial doing this.
 

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dave_person said:
Hi David,
The polymerized oils are heat treated to basically initiate that natural polymerization much faster also aided by solvents. I suggest anyone posting about their "tung" oil finish also post the products name and manufacturer.
Some posters are comparing apples and oranges all under the name "tung oil" and that creates a lot of confusion. As I've posted many times, I use Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil in medium sheen. It is not their exterior finish which simply means it does not have UV blockers added. No need for them on a gun stock. If you purchase some online, I urge you to buy their stop loss bags and filler system, which you can use for other finishes as well. Because of the polymerization process, the oil has a shelf life when it is exposed to air after opening. It will start to gel in a few months. The stop loss bags prevent that entirely and I've had oil in them for 2 years without gelling.


dave
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"......the oil has a shelf life when it is exposed to air after opening. It will start to gel in a few months."

Had a problem with that, then tried sitting the small jar I decanted the True Oil ( turned into a white gel) into a small saucepan of moderately heated water which brought it back to its original clear liquid form.
I've also found that leaving the jar out in the Sun before use will have the same effect.
 
wiscoaster said:
Tru-Oil and Minwax Tung Oil Finish are too shiny for a vintage-look gunstock if just left to dry and cure. Excess sheen is easily dealt with. Too little sheen is not. Therefore I'd rather use a polymerized oil finish because it's faster and its level of sheen can be moderated and the end result is the same.
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I have used a lot of Tung oil. I just pick a can up at the hardware store. I believe the companies that make these finishes have ironed out all the bugs.They all have diluted the Tung oil with something? I don't need to reinvent the wheel? As someone earlier suggested a little 0000 steel wool can alter the sheen if one so desires. I also know that there are people on this forum that are more knowledgeable than I when it comes to finishes and you are one of them.Your statements on the subject are inline with my thoughts. I am happy with tung oil but I go through phases when buying a finish. I am presently into my Danish Oil finish. There is no telling what I will choose next? The reason I mentioned this is I have found very little problem using a variety finishes when I adhere to the directions on the container. If there is one thing that bothers me it is over thinking a problem that doesn't exist? LOL!
 
olskool said:
i don't always use oil when i want to use oil on wood I use 100% real tung oil. I get it from here, https://www.realmilkpaint.com/shop/oils/pure-tung-chinawood/ I have used it for years with absolutely no problems at all. it dry's fast and looks great. I have been told that tung oil from the hardware store has little to no real tung oil at all.
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I would like to know how you use it? I find drying time with the store bought hard to dry if thin coats are not applyed? Pure Tung Oil has a reputation of having a long drying time? I don't use pure Tung Oil because of this trait.
 
LME said:
I would like to know how you use it? I find drying time with the store bought hard to dry if thin coats are not applyed? Pure Tung Oil has a reputation of having a long drying time? I don't use pure Tung Oil because of this trait.
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buy from the real milk paint company and try it for yourself. trust me it will dry. try it on some scrap wood first.
 
I just finished a walnut stocked Kibler SMR. I studied and read a lot of threads about how to use natural oil finishes. Read Dave's stuff a lot about Alkanet root "red oil" too, and have redone a AAA grade shotgun stock with that. But I wanted this gun to walk the line between authentic Southern Appalachian walnut stocked rifles which show some grain pores, and a fulled filled grain shotgun stock. I did it with Chambers Oil, about 13 coats. And one red oil coat at the very beginning. This was extremely porous walnut. The grain is about 3/4 filled. In "wear and handling points" like the forend, it'a about 100% filled.

People talk a lot about Boiled Linseed Oil (which I used exclusively on another rifle), and Tung Oil. But not the two combined. I believe but am not certain that Chambers Tradition Oil finish is Boiled Linseed and Tung. I know that for everything I've used it on, I love it. Each coat dries in about 24-36 hrs, where I live in the desert.

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AZshot said:
I just finished a walnut stocked Kiberler SMR. I studied and read a lot of threads about how to use natural oil finishes. Read Dave's stuff a lot about Alkanet root "red oil" too, and have redone a AAA grade shotgun stock with that. But I wanted this gun to walk the line between authentic Southern Appalachian walnut stocked rifles which show some grain pores, and a fulled filled grain shotgun stock. I did it with Chambers Oil, about 13 coats. And one red oil coat at the very beginning. This was extremely porous walnut. The grain is about 3/4 filled. In "wear and handling points" like the forend, it'a about 100% filled.

People talk a lot about Boiled Linseed Oil (which I used exclusively on another rifle), and Tung Oil. But not the two combined. I believe but am not certain that Chambers Tradition Oil finish is Boiled Linseed and Tung. I know that for everything I've used it on, I love it. Each coat dries in about 24-36 hrs, where I live in the desert.

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Nothing wrong with that finish!
 
Don King made John Armstrong style rifles and used a varnish instead of linseed oil. There is historic evidence of varnish as a finish on American long rifles. I've had luck with hand rubbed spar varnish (McCloskey's Man of War high gloss) tinted with reddish-orange dye to simulate violin finishes. Warren Selke does wet on wet hand rubbed finishes with Ace Hardware spar varnish. I find highest gloss gives greatest protection and once cured you can effectively dull the sheen with scotch Brite pad and apply paste wax. I stopped using steel wool and cheesecloth sanding between coats because of the steel wool lint contamination. Over ten coats of Tru Oil looks nice and protects but when you bump or bruise the stock you can get a cloudy mark that won 't come out. Furniture from Asia finished with tung oil can last 1000 years but raw linseed and raw tung oil will not cure right if you put a top coat sealant before it is thoroughly dry.
 

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