Tung Trees (long)

[Glenn Hodges]

A lot of us use tung oil in finishing our turnings. I thought some of you might like to see a tung tree in full bloom. A person has some in front of her home in the small town near where I live. Lots of the blooms have now fallen to the ground as you can see in one of the pictures. The trees are about 30 feet tall and they produce green balls which fall from the tree in the fall of the year. I planted some of these 2 years ago, and transplanted 30 young saplings this year. In a few years I will have these tung trees blooming down a fence row on one side of my farm. The trees are really beautiful this time of the year. I have lots more of these saplings. During WWII these trees were planted in N. Florida to produce tung oil because our overseas supply was declining. I hope the pictures do the trees justice, and hope you enjoy them.

[sascha gast]

awesome, just wonder how they get those suckers into those small cans.

thanx for sharing that picture, always wondered what that tree looks like and wouldn't you know it, i am on my way to buy some tung oil right now.

sascha

[Mark Singer]

Great...I use the stuff also...majestic tree!

[Doug Shepard]

So does the tung oil come from those green balls? Or the leaves? Wood?

[Glenn Hodges]

The green balls, eventually turn black, about the size of black walnuts before they are husked are pressed for their oil. The oil comes from these balls which are soft compared to walnuts. I planted these balls and the seedling came from these, and virtually everyone came up. As Paul Harvey would say, "And now you know the rest of the story." I hope I did not bore you with this tidbit about the tung tree.

[Doug Shepard]

I asked. Thanks for the tidbit. I now feel ready to face Ken Jennings on Jeopardy.:D

[Ernie Nyvall]

Thanks for the information Glenn. Not a bore at all. I had no idea where tung oil came from. Looks like a good climbing tree too.

Ernie

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Cool,

That makes Tung Oil an even better finish! It is made from trees just like our work! :)

[Jerry Clark]

Now if I make something from the wood--- I guess I would not have to apply any "Finish"! Just a thought!:rolleyes:

[Kevin Beck]

I've seen these in the area of North Florida where I grew up. There is even a road a few miles from the house I was raised in named "Tung Oil Road".

Thanks for the information.

Kevin