Finish question on pine

[Douglas Johnson]

For the 1/3 tung oil, 1/3 BLO, 1/3 poly, you should use 100% tung oil. No telling what is in tung oil finish. Woodcraft and Lee Valley both have the pure stuff. -- Doug

[B A R R Y]

I'll have to play with it.

My favorite paint store sells Hope's 100% Tung.

Thanks!

[Douglas Johnson]

I usually use three or four coats. Then I wax it with 1/3 bee's wax, 1/3 tung oil, and 1/3 BLO. You need to heat the mix to get the bee's wax to dissolve. Be careful. Use a double boiler or crock pot.

-- Doug

[samson]

Same here. I use pure Tung Oil from Rockler's. It's not cheap, though.

S.

[nailshooter41]

Valley.http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=20049&cat=1,190,42942> "This product contains no thinners or driers".

That's the juice. The real stuff. With no thinners or driers you have the real deal.

First, congratulations on the upcoming family member! Tung should be an excellent choice for the crib.

Not to sound confounding here, but tung oil is known for its lack of penetration. (I know, I know, are you ever happy, Robert?) However, most refinishers that use PURE tung as a base coat to other finishes thin it by about 50% or so to increase penetration.

I don't agree with this Russ on a lot of things and we have corresponded before. In this case though, you might find his articles on BLO and tung interesting. His observations are pretty widely accepted as are his application methods in these particular cases.

Me, I want to build nice things and learn new stuff. I can afford to spend the

Me, too. I just don't seem to do it anymore. I seem to learn out of necessity these days, not for the enjoyment.

You will love it. It is as much a commentary on things related to woodworking as it is instructive. His candor in using wood as a medium and his thoughts on that alone are worth the price of the book. He does does not believe that wood speaks to him nor does he channel any distant voices of ancient craftsmen.

He believes his time is precious, so as he says, when he communicates with wood he uses shorthand. He uses power tools when possible. He only came up with his own finish because he didn't like the ones that are out there. And in fact, according to folklore, he came up with his finish because some of his early work was rejected due to the use of heavy varnishes and oils.

Be sure and check out his comments on pages 64 - 65 when you get the book.

Robert

[nailshooter41]

Well, well. Congrats to you, good sir!

I hope for all the best - you know, 10 fingers, 10 toes and all that.

Got a new crib going yet?

Robert

[Lew Hodgett]

Great place for a 1lb coffee can with plastic cover.

Fill coffee can 2/3 max with wax and liquids (I include some turps in mine).

Place can in a 2 qt sauce pot filled with water on low heat.

When wax has completely melted, stir completely, then lift can out with pliers and allow to cool on counter.

When cold, cover with plastic cap and store.

Lew

[Swingman]

If you're a senior in High School in 2008, you've never seen a "1lb coffee can".

[Douglas Johnson]

I thinned the first coat by 50% with mineral spirits. That worked well to pop the curl in the cherry without it getting blotchy. I used straight tung oil for the second and third coats. After I'm done here, I'll head into the shop and either put a fourth coat on or declare victory and wax it.

more.

One of the great joys of retirement is that I have the time and energy to learn something just because I want to. In my working days, it was the same as you. What I learned was being dictated by what I had to do. Now, I'm learning Photoshop for photography, Spanish at the local community college, reading up on Buddhism for an upcoming trip... Life is good.

-- Doug

[Bored Borg]

when I wuz a lad, cribs, teething rings etc were durable 'cos they wasn't finished in some namby pamby wood-look nonsense. They was all properly done in high-gloss paint with lots and lots of lead in it, and we wuz tucked up to sleep by unwashed chain smokers with swarf under their fingernails. never did any of us any harm and some of us are running countries now?

Question seems to be between finishes that dry hard and finishes that don't really dry completely and will still react to their solvents. Oil-based stuff can be either, depending on oil type and proportion of medium to solvent, and some of you guys know a lot more than I do about aspects of that. I'm really coming at it from the point of view of a fine-arts painting background, which has slightly different considerations, but one thing I know for certain is not to mix synthetic and natural resins without well-provenanced technologists' recommendations,

Polyurethane is pretty durable, as varnishes go but it can look disgusting and "plasticky." It is, however, extremely inert and child-friendly. Use it straight from the can or with recommended solvent only and it will dry hard and, er, _dry_. I wouldn't use it as the basis of any sort of finish cocktail. Ever.

Acrylics are also inert, but, like all lacquers, need multiple coats and rubbing out to look their best. I prefer the look of lacquer to varnish for "proper" furniture but I wouldn't finish a saucepan rack in it.

Oils? Look gorgeous, don't they? They tend to allow the wood to "breathe" and, to some extent, balance moisture content against environmental humidity. They also need maintenance - a certain amount of regular topping up is required by the end user, otherwise they will dry out and eventually fail because they work by being "wet" - think of moisturizer on dry skin.

Two packs - more properly varnishes than lacquers. Give the most unbelievable depth of gloss. A Grand Piano finish in one coat. BUT the slightest - and I mean the _slightest_ bit of dust in the finishing room will mar the finish and it's nigh on impossible to rub out, The finish is as hard as glass. I once took over two hours to flat and polish a one-inch square on a piece that has a dust speck in it. With a cellulose or acrylic lacquer, it would have been minutes if not seconds. You know how when you use rubbing compound on a flour-sanded area of lacquer, the rubbing feels stiff and "frictiony" and then suddenly "gives" and feels a slippery as ice, so you know the polish has cut? On 2packs the transition never happens. Well, it does, eventually, but 2 hours per square inch is TAI&P, _never_ YMMV, Hercules.

finally I wouldn't use 2 pack, and I would be wary of poly, on pine because pine sweats resin for years, and sealing over an unstable surface doesn't strike me as ideal. I think wax finishes are the way to go with pine generally (think of wax as a very thick oil that won't evaporate) and will need less frequent maintenance than oil. I would however, question its use at all on a crib, which really leads to the conclusion that pine is perhaps not the best crib material either, unless you consider it to be an ephemeral project with the possible lifespan of one babyhood (well, maybe more, but I wouldn't consider it heirloom or archival) in which case I'd lacquer it and hand rub.

These are idle insomniac musings which may have no value in the cold light of day, so if this is all gibberish, sorry and thanks for reading

8-)