Tung Oil or Poylyurethane ???

T

Terry_Dodson

Joined
Jul 10, 2002
Messages
839
I was showing a friend of mine at work some pieces of curly maple i had tried differnt things to such as rubbin with vinegar with steel wool dissolvedin it, rubbing with brown shoe polish and just the bare wood, then whiskering it several times then several coats of Tung Oil as the final finish, to get the tiger eye effect, which i did on all of them and they look great. When he asked me what the finish was and i told him Tung Oil, he scratched a piece and said "that is too soft you need to use polyurethane it is harder". My questions would polyurethane still give me that tiger eye effect? Which one is better, or what are the pros and cons of each? Will polyurethane stand up better? and will it stay clear? :confused:
 
Poly will yellow with age. And it'll eventually crack and flake off and look terrible. Why not try natural pine pitch or cutler's resin? That's a permanent finish and can be re-applied as often as necessary. Another thing I've found that works great for wood finish and sealing is Ballistol. I don't know why more people haven't found that out yet. Stubbornness is my guess. I make a wood finish that's made out of a 50/50 mix of beeswax and ballistol. It also works well on leather and as a furniture polish. It's a paste wax. I use that exclusively on leather now. A heat gun and good clean rag is all that's necessary for a fine finish. Try it and see for yourself.
 
we know all about ballistol over in the Himalayan Imports forum. ;)


The latest polyurethane wipe-on varnish boasts no yellowing as well as UV protection - which slows down oxidation. I don't use it for hardnening's sake. Tung Oil (and Linseed Oil) yellow/amber immediately....which actually can be good with maple, light-colored woods, etc. But on some woods, you don't want it too yellow.

You can always do both. Tung Oil first, poly as a final cover. I've done this very thing. Just don't let the Tung get gummy - cut it with some Acetone. Use satin (rather than glossy) polyurethane and you'll avoid the cracking issues (which is more common with lacquer than with urethane = softer).

more 0.02
 
One other thing that's nice about Ballistol is that it's alkaline. I use it over Aquafortis and it not only kills the acid but it gives any finish like Teak oil, a deep base. It's not a half bad finish all by itself.

I'm going to have to try the 50/50 ballistol and beeswax. Sounds like a great top coat.
 
Himalayan imports forum? Daniel, would you care to elaborate on the information you eluded to? I'm a dyed in the wool Ballistol fan and would be interested to know more. At least a link if you would old buddy. Thanks.
 
Oh Don, I forgot to mention that I also use that ballistol/beeswax mix as a packing for my .44 caliber black powder pistol cylinder. It stops crossfire and causes the barrell to 'season' like a cast iron frying pan instead of rusting after firing. You can also soak your patches for round balls in a rifle in the hot mix and let them cool. Try it man! I know you'll like it. Just melt a pound of beeswax to a pint of ballistol together and let it cool. Wonderful stuff.
 
 
It's a whole lot easier to touch up tung oil or some of the other concoctions mentioned than it is a hardening sealer.
 
Daniel, if you sent ME an email please try again if it's no problem. I use an email filter program and it may have gotten blasted back into the internet ether without my knowing. I'll be on the lookout for it. Meanwhile, I'll be taking a gander at the links you provided. Thanks!
 
I like teak oil better than tung oil these days. Sand and oil repeated coats until it gets where you want it and then burn in hard (pure) Carnuba wax. It looks a lot better than any plastic varnish and you can still feel the wood.

The teak oil works well on antler, also
 
Varnish is supposed to go over wood, and oil is supposed to go in it. Actualy, some varnishes are made of tung oil, older varnishes pre poly, you know "oil varnishes", though any drying oil can be used. A proper tung oil finish is unbeatable, but it requires a lot of coats, and a lot of sanding back and wet sanding with oil. This kind of thing is how they got a finish on "Best" quality shotguns, and you can have shine or satin.

A hard finish over a soft substrate like wood, means if dented, it will crack. Over a hard surface like steel, it will chip. Unless you were varnishing over something extremely close to the hardness of your varnish, it's hardness is probably a disadvantage. If you want a real strong result, get some resin impregnated wood to start with, just buff it, no need to finish.

You also have the option of mixing poly with oil, this is called a short varnish. First it makes the oil a little stronger, faster drying due to the driers aded to varnish (you can add driers directly to the oil, but the varnish is one way to get them in there), more spot resistant. It also makes the varnish sink in rather than sit on the surface. Apply it as you wish, and wipe off all excess, wet sand apply, wet sand apply, as many coats as you think will be useful. You can buff to a final finish (which also goes for the oil itself). The original oil based varathane, mixes nicely with oil, about 1/3 varnish is a good starting point.
 
I was at lowes last night and saw this:
http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=44690-1260-4650000203
it is Johnson's Fine Wood Paste Wax. Soes anyone know anything about it? Do you think it would bee :D good? It says:

Hard finish, buffable wax formula provides a rich, satiny luster, lasting beauty and protection for all sealed wood surfaces
Helps protect metal, sealed leather, plastic, sealed cork and vinyl
Waterless cleaning formula picks up old wax and prevents buildup

What do ya think? I didnt have my glasses so i could only see the big print and could not tell if it had ingredients listed. :(
 
Terry_Dodson said:
I was at lowes last night and saw this:
http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=44690-1260-4650000203
it is Johnson's Fine Wood Paste Wax. Soes anyone know anything about it? Do you think it would bee :D good? It says:

Hard finish, buffable wax formula provides a rich, satiny luster, lasting beauty and protection for all sealed wood surfaces
Helps protect metal, sealed leather, plastic, sealed cork and vinyl
Waterless cleaning formula picks up old wax and prevents buildup

What do ya think? I didnt have my glasses so i could only see the big print and could not tell if it had ingredients listed. :(
Click to expand...
It's good wax, I've used it in the past and you wouldn't go wrong using it. I now use Bri-wax which I think is a little better in rust proofing (I've tested it against Johnsons, bee's wax and renisaince(sp) and bri-wax beats them all). Bri-wax will run around $12/lb plus shipping on the net. Great stuff. (get the clear)
 
Briwax user - final finish on everything....blade, handle, fittings.....all get a thin coat of it before it goes out the door (exception being kitchen ware).
 
As usual, I have to be the oddball. Johnson's/beeswax mix with a little turpentine, chicken feet and burnt sock ashes. :eek:
 
Terry_Dodson said:
Daniel why not kitchen ware?
Click to expand...
I protect with mineral oil on the blade instead of briwax. Even the touluene-free briwax is kinda....:barf:.....don't want any of that on my steak.

Mineral oil, on the other hand, works just fine and is safe.
 
Terry_Dodson said:
Johnson's Fine Wood Paste Wax. Soes anyone know anything about it? Do you think it would bee :D good?
Click to expand...

I'm with Tracy, until I got a good deal on some Ren wax that's all I used. However, Balistol and Balistol/beeswax sound good too. Wish I could find either one locally. But not. Maybe eventually one of the knife suppliers will start carrying it. I get tired of paying all these multiple shipping charges. But I guess that's just the price of doing something out of the ordinary, eh?

Tung oil is a great wood finish too. There's a reason all that 200 year old furniture still looks good...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top