Tung Oil?

[Toller]

I have never used tung oil; it seemed too expensive for what it was.

At a garage sale today I bought a large, very old, bottle of pure tung oil for $0.50. I emptied it into a clean bottle and found it was a very syrupy brown liquid. I put in about 10% turp and it thinned up to a reasonable consistancy.

I put some on a scrap of mahogany, with BLO next to it. It is hard to tell the two apart, but maybe the tung is a tad lighter. Don't know how it dries since I just did it.

Does this sound like a usable product, or has it gone bad from long storage? The brand is "Hope". Seems like a good idea...

[don]

I swear by Formbys Tung Oil Finish which I get at walmart. I do lots of woodworking and the finish is great. I've put 20-30 coats on a lot of my pieces. I use the high gloss and get that glassy deep look.

[George]

Now that you've opened it and brought in fresh air, the clock will begin to tick.

It looks a bit lighter in two ways - won't darken the wood as much, and dries a bit hazy, like a satin varnish. If that's what you're after, have at it.

I think it stinks, so I use linseed. Smells better.

[alexy]

The 100% tung I got from Woodcraft and Rockler was nearly clear--only very light tan. But definitely syrupy. I followed advice I found somewhere to use 50/50 mix with solvent for deep penetration of first coat.

Having used turp for the solvent, you probably won't be able to tell, but the smell is dramatically different. BLO has a very strong (but not unpleasant to me) smell. Tung has a very mild smell that reminds me a little of peanut oil.

My experience is that it is slower curing than BLO, but faster than raw linseed oil, of course.

[nailshooter41]

Toller wrote:

[fredfighter]

What he bought is pefectly good and useable, so why not use it?

[Toller]

Because it is $10 bottle for $0.50. If it is good, then I have a gloat; if it is bad I have lost $0.50.

The piece I tested it on yesterday dried nicely and looks good. I think it is a gloat, but will test it on a larger piece before getting carried away.

[nailshooter41]

[e-mail] wrote:

[Peter Huebner]

My can of tung oil is well over 10 years old. It's a bitch to prise open the first time when I want to put it back into action, but other than that it's good as gold. I thin it with vege turps 10%-30% for first and second application.

Can be very slow drying - I used it on a eucalypt hearth surround and we had to step over it for weeks, but it's given that bluegum a beautiful purple finish and nothing has marred/stained that timber in 15 years now :-)

It's definitely a tryer-outer though, on some timbers I don't much care for its appearance, on others it's just beautiful.

-P.

[Peter Huebner]

Fair enough, I am with you all the way here.

Then again, if you have never sat in a Mercedes Benz and you want to see what it feels like, you would't go out and buy a brand spanking new one, would you . Of course, it wouldn't help either to get a 35 year old jalopy as a try out...

... as I seem to recall the OP said he'd never used the stuff before.

-P.