The LIES and confusion of Tung Oil wood finish

[Woodwright]

A very informative video on tung oil and tung oil finishes.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
He has done little to help people except he does discuss some of the many "tung" oil labeled concoctions sold in hardware stores like Minwax tung oil finish and Formby's tung oil finish that have little or no tung oil in them. He completely ignores polymerized tung oil products which are heat treated and mixed with solvents. Tru Oil is very similar but uses polymerized linseed oil mixed with solvents rather than tung oil. Using pure tung oil on a gunstock would be a mess just like using pure linseed oil. It would take forever to dry and offers little good weather resistance. However, that pure oil mixed with a varnish creates an excellent finish that dries in 24 hours and is weather resistant. I use Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil to great advantage. The key word is "polymerized" meaning the tung oil was heated and mixed with solvents.

dave

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

@dave_person Do you use interior or exterior? Sealer or no?

 

[dave_person]

@dave_person Do you use interior or exterior? Sealer or no?

Hi,
Ignore the interior or exterior labels. Exterior usually means the finish has UV light blockers. It is what you might choose if you are painting the rails of a deck. The exterior finishes are just fine for gunstocks and virtually all finishes you guys use for guns would be classified as "interior". I usually do apply thinned first coats (often 50% mineral spirits) to act as a sealer of sorts. No finish penetrates very deeply but a couple of thinned first coats can soak in better in very dense woods such as maple and walnut. If you finish walnut using the sanding slurry grain sealer method, my first coats is mostly unthinned except it often has alkanet root stain infused in turpentine mixed with it, which thins it a little by default. I typically use Sutherland-Welles polymerized tung oil medium sheen. The medium sheen has a pretty shiny gloss so I often add mineral spirits to soften the sheen. Here are two examples in English walnut showing the unthinned finish medium sheen and a softened gloss using thinned finish.

medium sheen

softened sheen

dave

 

[wiscoaster]

If the product is easy to use, doesn't require days in between coats, and produces a durable result that's pleasing to me, I DON'T CARE WHAT IT'S CALLED.

(awesome inlays, Dave!!!)

 

[FlinterNick]

A very informative video on tung oil and tung oil finishes.

If you’re going to use a 100% organic tuna oil linseed oil finish, you’ll need a few things.

1. Patience.
2. Good weather
3. More patience.


The organic finishes like tried and true and milk paint are fine finishes but the issue is the absorption and drying. You’ll often see the organic oils seap out for days on end until it’s dry, and once you’ve started with the organic oils, you have to continue using it. There are a few ways you can use organic finishes successfully however you’re moving away from the concept of being organic to a chemical based varnish.

You can mix in the raw oils with a varnish, spirts and some dries such as japan drier. This makes a faster drying finish however it does create additional complications of its own regarding bubbling, spotting and hazy spots. It can work, but it will work no better than a pre-made varnish, so why bother ?

Dave’s suggestion to use a polymerizing oil finish is best, no matter how much actual original product is in it, it gets the job done.

 

[Phil Coffins]

I wouldn’t use any kind of tuna oil on my work!
“If you’re going to use a 100% organic tuna oil linseed oil finish, you’ll need a few things.“