I'm finishing a small chest I made from cherry and want to use tung oil. On the inside, should I give it a couple of coats of shellac as a sealer?
I'm using a pair of my jockey's to apply the tung oil. How long should I wait before I wear them again. A little spontaneous combustion may not be a bad thing ;)
-- Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
I have been using a coat or two of tung oil, letting it dry. Then a couple of coats of super blonde shellac. Nice depth and easy to do.
Ken Gunter
CH-47D Chinook Pilot
I've just been reading Bill Knight & Bill Mende's work on 18th century muzzle-loading rifles. After treating raw powder horns with verdigris (copper acetate) as a preservative, they were bright green (hence "green horns"). A final colouring was done by "dunging" them (burial in a midden), or else by applying extracted Manure Salts.
Good idea, if you're not oiling the inside.
Use a brush for inside corners of boxes, not a pad. Synthetic watercolour brushes and fibres like "Golden Taklon" are best for shellac.
Jockeys are OK for oil, but use boxer shorts for shellac. Longer staple cotton, and they wear better.
Just curious, Ed...why aren't you gonna do the entire chest the same way?
I'll be curious as to the answers you get. I'm putting in a bunch of replacement windows...and I'm gonna tung oil the frames that I built. I'm wondering if I should put a coat of poly on them.
Can't help you here, Ed. I usually use Kotex for the main areas...and a Tampax for the inside corners. But, hey...that's just me.
Have a nice week...
Trent
Cat...the OTHER white meat!
I figure the outside will be nice with just the oil. I'm concerned that the inside may weep or the contents pick up something from the oil. That is why I thought of sealing with shellac. If other's experience proves otherwise, I'll use tung oil only. Ed
Tung oil does cure. I find it dry to the touch within 1 day in my typical thin coat approach (wipe-off). I've read it takes several weeks to fully cure. So I wouldn't worry about weeping. The smell does linger a while, so absorbent items in a closed box could pick up a scent. I don't find the smell offensive, but wouldn't necessarily want people to think it's a cologne I'm wearing either ;-)
If it's a small box you could use polymerized tung oil. It's much pricier, but builds much faster and is much more durable according to Jewitt's book. I find it has less odor too. It cures very rapidly, really need to wipe off in 10 minutes, if you wait 30 minutes it's pretty sticky.
I'm going to try it on a small piece to see how it looks. Even if I don't do the chest that way, I'll know for the future.
Thanks, Ed
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