Tung oil finish ?? Soaking?

A

Angus McGunnigl

Joined
May 22, 2002
Messages
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I read here that many describe "soaking" the attached handles/scales in tung oil.

Do you literally just upend the knife and immerse the scales ? How long ?

I've used Frombys brand and followed the instructions and things have turned out fine, but I'm wondering if the penetration you'd get soaking is worth it.
 
I have always heard that Tung oil, when used on furniture, was meant for items to be used inside. Teak oil is meant for outside furniture and, in my case, knife handles. I mix in turpentine at a ratio of 50:50 and soak the handle point up for one half hour then wipe down and let dry with the blade stuck between the pages of the Websters Dictionary so the knife is sticking out sideways in the open air. The turpentine penetrates the wood and carries the oil with it. It takes a couple of days to dry and get the turp smell out. Sometimes I will wipe some more of the mixture on for more coating. This is generally done with very hard and oily woods. This was a tip from a gun stock maker that uses a 1:10 turp to spar varnish finish with numerous treatments. Hope this helps.
 
I suppose they do, but some of them see some hard duty in some not so friendly environs. My personal knife is used during deer, upland bird, and elk season and gets outdoor time while backpacking. It has been through about a dozen deer, three elk, and countless birds. Admittedly, I don't touch it up with teak oil. I use boot grease (call me crazy).
 
It depends on the wood if soaking is worth it. Most tung oil is pretty thick. You can thin it up to about 50% with some type of mineral spirits to help penetration. On porous woods like Oak, some maples, etc... or softwoods, soaking can help tung oil get a bit deeper into the wood, at the small risk of creating a thick first coat that will dry slowly or gummy. Also think about whether any epoxy/glue you used to hold the handle on the knife will respond well to a long soak in mineral spirits. On dense heavy tight grained woods, I doubt there's all that much additional penetration over just rubbing coats of tung oil on the handle.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I'll stick to the directions on the can for now.

I've completed a few knives now and am mostly still trying to get the process down.

Thanks again
 
I dont think your gonna get the oil to go all the way thru, unless the wood is super soft and porous. Some guys will even argue that you should heat the oil up and then soak. I see it as a surface coating with very little in the way of protection....

Larry
 
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