LV Tung Oil?

[alex grams]

Has anyone used the polymerized tung oil from Lee Valley? I am looking for a glossy, minimalist finish, and purchased some of this for bowls. I wipe it on, but it seems to not fully dry (even after 48hrs+), and is slightly gummy to the touch. It lists as a high sheen finish, but is behaving far from it.

Any suggestions? I have tried heavier coats that I let set for 5-10 minutes, then wipe off, and then leaving on, any variations I can think of that may affect the finish. It is on a small mesquite bowl I have sanded to 600 grit, so the surface is very smooth and would typically take a high sheen finish very easily.

Thanks in advance.

[Bob Coates]

Haven't used that specific one, but others from LV require that after applying the surface must be wiped dry. I failed to do this with the tried and true product that they sell and just reapplied and wiped dry and came out very well. You might try using steel wool or fiber pad diluted with product.
Good luck....

Bob

[Prashun Patel]

From their website: "This is pure tung oil that has been given extra heat treatment to encourage polymerization and faster initial drying."

The heating will not encourage hardness - only dryness. Oil finishes (including BLO) dry soft. Their claim of 'high luster' is misleading. It cannot mean 'high gloss'. In fact, a quick googling shows 'lustre' to be akin to a matte finish in photography.

Pure oil finishes will dry to a soft feel and a satin sheen. They are invariably intended to be wiped on and wiped off. If anyone claims that they can get a high gloss finish using a pure oil, they are either using something that has some varnish in it, or are buffing/burnishing/polishing the actual wood to a high sheen. You'll find many turners who are able to do this with success but fewer flat worlders.

You have a couple options:

1) Wipe on / wipe off your tung oil, but sand up to super high grits or buff your piece using polishing compounds.
2) Switch to a film forming finish like shellac, lacquer or varnish.

If by 'minimalist' you mean 'thin' - not 'easy' then the trick to getting that is to seal the wood first with something like shellac, sanding it silky smooth to a very high grit, then applying very few coats of a film-forming finish. Done right, you won't even need to subsequently buff/rub it out.