Tung Oil usage?

D

daberti

Joined
Apr 2, 2005
Messages
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I'm currently working on a Desert Ironwood scale project.

1)Scale has been finished on 3M 12.000 polishing tapes.
2)I made up my mind to use Tung Oil instead of Boiled Linseed Oil as I was looking for the best natural protection.
3)Up to now I just applied the 1st coat, 20%Tung 80%Turpentine (for better penetration), carefully wiping off excess oil.
4)Nearly 24hrs have elapsed since 3) and
5)The most surface is glossy, with some matte spots.

Given that Tung is very diluted after this 1st pass, I guess I should not use 0000 Steel Wool, as I would actually remove some wood underneath, right?
My understanding is that I should use 12000 3M polishing tape as well, if any.
Next three coats will be 50/50 and I'd use same polishing tape, leaving 0000 steel wool for the 100% Tung oil coats.

Any opinion would be hotly welcome.

TIA
 
Just a tip, I prefer fine scotchbrite over steel wool, having used both. The white scotchbrite will scuff without removing wood. The finest gray won't remove much would and will scuff a little faster.

I have never tried the polishing tape. I am curious how that will turn out!
 
Well. since you have already used the dilute version for penetration, just use straight Tung Oil. apply liberally and wipe off excess within 45 minutes and buff lightly. maybe 2-3 coats should do it. I'll be surprised if you even need to polish/steel wool/sand at all. Wait 24-36 hours after all sealed.

Once all pores are sealed, a coat of Johnson's Paste Wax makes it shiny and dry to the touch.

Larry
Tinkerer
 
Thanks pmeisel and tinkerer :)

As of 10hrs ago there were some excess oil on some small spots. Wiped off with a cotton pad.
I guess I'll allow another night of cure. Temp inside my house is 22°C so it was expected.
The curing process is still at the time when passing a cotton rag (with very light pressure) I'm collecting the wood colour: what could it mean?

There are some areas where penetration has not been on par with average, thus I'll keep myself from using pure Tung Oil until I get a uniform distribution.

Nearly every source of woodworking literature mentions 0000 (or even 000) steel wool to set back after each coat of Tung Oil on Desert Ironwood. For what I've experimented so far 0000 S.W. release many steel particles that stay put with the substrate, to get rid of these particles I had to sacrifice a god amount of 12k 3M tape, so just might as well...

Anyway before oiling the scale itself I'm doing some experiment with a D.I. leftover.

@tinkerer
Good to know that maybe I won't need any sanding at all. I mean, I do understand that any following coat needs somehow to find a slightly "rough" surface on the previous, to stick to it, yet wouldn't some vigorous rub when wiping excess oil both keep the layer as thin as possible and achieve the "roughness" requisite?
IMHO there is some overkill out there, bacause steel wool will take some wood with it.
What would it be the use in taking D.I. to 12.000grit level and having it marred by Steel Wool afterwards?

After sealing I'll go with Ren Wax, I've plenty at home ;)
 
With all due respect to tinkerer you shouldn't have to apply paste wax over pure tung to get it "dry to the touch"-- the reason tung is often not dry to the touch is cuz it was applied too liberally in the first place. I've got a pint of pure tung 25/30 years old and the leakage around the opening is still tacky, you can stick your nail into it-- thick, it will never dry.

I've used pure tung on many gunstocks over the years, and the amount of tung used is miniscule. I'll get a single small drop on the tip of my finger, then tap that all over the gunstock to distribute. After that it's just rubbing my palm over the stock to heat and distribute it evenly-- rub till your palm burns. Wait 24 hours, do it again, repeat for 7-10 days. It'll be 3/4 coats before you start developing the "glow", after that it just gets richer and richer. It'll never feel tacky.

If one small drop is the maximum for a shotgun stock for guaranteed drying w/o tackiness you can scale that down to the surface area of your scales to see that you'll use just a fraction of a drop TOTAL to get the 7-10 coats I'd recommend.
 
ryxlyx said:
With all due respect to tinkerer you shouldn't have to apply paste wax over pure tung to get it "dry to the touch"-- the reason tung is often not dry to the touch is cuz it was applied too liberally in the first place. I've got a pint of pure tung 25/30 years old and the leakage around the opening is still tacky, you can stick your nail into it-- thick, it will never dry.

I've used pure tung on many gunstocks over the years, and the amount of tung used is miniscule. I'll get a single small drop on the tip of my finger, then tap that all over the gunstock to distribute. After that it's just rubbing my palm over the stock to heat and distribute it evenly-- rub till your palm burns. Wait 24 hours, do it again, repeat for 7-10 days. It'll be 3/4 coats before you start developing the "glow", after that it just gets richer and richer. It'll never feel tacky.

If one small drop is the maximum for a shotgun stock for guaranteed drying w/o tackiness you can scale that down to the surface area of your scales to see that you'll use just a fraction of a drop TOTAL to get the 7-10 coats I'd recommend.
Click to expand...

The key to Tung oil is many *thin* coats. I cut it with lacquer thinner the first few coats to achieve that myself. Then, as was said, I get my finger wet with it and rub it in, rubbing off any excess at all and rubbing it into tool handles. :rolleyes: After a while you will see the areas which are not glossy get smaller and finally disappear. Then it will have a beautiful shiny finish. I have found that it can yellow over time. Nowadays I usually just do a few coats for a more natural finish.
 
Thanks to Ryxlyx and Davek14.

Some update.
After 36hrs the first coat (20Tung/80Turpentine) has cured. My feedback is that if I wipe with a cotton rag, no more wooden colour is left on it.
It is a Box where I left the insides uncured for now, just to have a quick compare.
Yes, it has the great majority of treated areas with some haze like finish, yet it is already and clearly more grain popping than the uncured inside of the box.

I carefully passed some light strokes of 0000 Steel Wool on a small spot.
I then passed 12.000grit 3M tape.
I learned the first thing: steel wool is the evil :mad:
It left a lot of small particles and eventually marred the prior finishing.
The first 12k tape had been used to restore that spot, than I went to prepare the box for the second layer of Tung Oil (50/50) with a second 12k tape.

The pictures (taken in a hurry, sorry) show the results before second coat.
1.jpg

2.jpg
 
ryxlyx said:
With all due respect to tinkerer you shouldn't have to apply paste wax over pure tung to get it "dry to the touch"-- the reason tung is often not dry to the touch is cuz it was applied too liberally in the first place. I've got a pint of pure tung 25/30 years old and the leakage around the opening is still tacky, you can stick your nail into it-- thick, it will never dry.

I've used pure tung on many gunstocks over the years, and the amount of tung used is miniscule. I'll get a single small drop on the tip of my finger, then tap that all over the gunstock to distribute. After that it's just rubbing my palm over the stock to heat and distribute it evenly-- rub till your palm burns. Wait 24 hours, do it again, repeat for 7-10 days. It'll be 3/4 coats before you start developing the "glow", after that it just gets richer and richer. It'll never feel tacky.

If one small drop is the maximum for a shotgun stock for guaranteed drying w/o tackiness you can scale that down to the surface area of your scales to see that you'll use just a fraction of a drop TOTAL to get the 7-10 coats I'd recommend.
Click to expand...

Did you work with stabilized gunstocks? Just asking.
 
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