Japan Drier

[Paul]

When the drier is added to a pint of tung oil, will it have any adverse on the tung oil in the container if it hasn't all been used, and just stored, or should I mix just what I am going to use right away?

[nailshooter41]

I am not sure why you would add Japan Drier to tung oil as the resins left behind to form your finish still won't be hard. It won't be wear resistant (abrasion) nor will it be more than slightly water resistant.

If I were to use tung, I would use some one of the polymerized tung oils (OK... now were are approaching low resin varnish) that are out there. IIRC, they use metallic driers and they will provide a harder, more water resistant finish than tung, or tung with Japan drier. Just as easy to apply.

Japan Drier is a resin based chemical product that will enhance gloss, speed drying, and possibly ruin your finish if you put in too much when applying. It seems to harden the final product a bit, but I don't know that for sure.

I have used pure tung oil as a grain enhancer since it tends to not amber as much as BLO. However, rather than to change the structure of the oil (and possibly the end result of your finish) I would use naptha as a thinner/drying enhancer as it is miscible with the tung product which may be a mix of tung or other oils and polymers.

Only mix what you need. Factory mixed concoctions also include retarders and conditioners that allow you to use the product once it has been open, sometime for many months after opening without degrading the product. When you homebrew, you don't have those additives and you can get unstable results with leftover materials when mixing and storing.

Robert

[Paul]

I am not sure why you would add Japan Drier to tung oil as the resins left behind to form your finish still won't be hard. It won't be wear resistant (abrasion) nor will it be more than slightly water resistant.

Robert

Thanks for that info. I wanted to use a drier so the tung oil wouldn't take forever to dry and harden, and I wanted to use what I bought w/o going out and getting something else.

Paul

[Jim Weisgram]

Mix just what you are going to use. I don't know about pure tung oil, but when I mix pure tung oil with varnish and solvent and add Japan drier, for a faster drying custom wiping varnish, it will only be useful for a couple of weeks.