Dummie needs help

[Sande Morse]

Hi,

I am putting a finish on a self contained pantry cabinet. Not understanding the correct properties of different finishing materials, I did the outside in Tung Oil and the inside in Miniwax polyacrylic. I was misinformed by a gentlemen that Tung Oil would darken the finish. It did not and I'm unhappy with the color, which is a very light natural shade. Is it possible to successfully apply a stain or a polyacrylic with stain in it, to the tung oil finish? Are there any suggestions if neither is feasible?

Thanks.

[Don Baer]

Hi Sande and welcome to the creek.
I am no expert on finishing but I'll try to help.
As far as I know tung oil that you buy is very rarely pure tung oil, most of it cntains a varnish. I'd get some varnise remover and use it first. Then you can apply a stain or dye. Before you apply anything to the wood to change the color try a test piece where it won't be noticed so you can see what the finish will look like when your done.
am sure someone will be along soon to give you better advice.

[Jim Becker]

Did you use pure/real "Tung Oil" or "Tung Oil Finish"? If the container says the latter...it has no Tung Oil in it and is just a wiping varnish. You can't stain over it, per se, but you can color a clear finish, such as shellac or varnish, to use as a toner to darken the piece. Be aware that it can be very difficult to get an even color after the fact, although spraying your finish can help. If you used "Real Tung Oil", it can also be over coated with something to change the color, but you need to make sure it is FULLY cured (can take many weeks) before you top coat it with anything. If you don't you can get really nasty streaking and/or white spots.

[Howard Acheson]

As asked, did you use one of the faux "Tung Oil Finishes" or was it a true, pure, 100% tung oil?

The second question is what is the wood you used?

[Sande Morse]

Unfortunately, the product used was Formby's Tung Oil Finish. The idea of removing the varnish isn't a very pleasant one, but if done, what would be recommended? I presently have ReadyStrip. Would that be suitable? Of course, I'm still hoping for an easier solution.

The front of the cabinet appears to be light oak (veneer mostly). I'm unsure what the sides are, possibly oak veneer or birch veneer.

[Don Baer]

Sande,
The readystrip web site says
"Ready-Strip(tm) is a one of a kind, environmentally friendly, paint and varnish remover capable of removing up to 7+ layers in one application. The revolutionary "Color Change" feature signals the time for paint removal. Ready-Strip is applied to the surface and turns off-white or pale green when the paint or varnish is ready to be removed. Ready-Strip Plus is non-flammable, biodegradable, virtually odorless, and can be cleaned up with water. It does not contain flammable chemicals or harmful vapors like many traditional strippers.It works on metal, brick, marble, fiberglass, formica, delicate plaster moldings, and almost anything else. It won't run off, even on vertical surfaces and ceilings."

So it apears that it would work. Be very careful since most veners are very thin. If you sand it be gentle.

[Sande Morse]

Jim,
Am I to understand it is possible to get (another) varnish, possibly with some color to it, and go over the tung oil finish? I certainly would do a spot test first. Why would it streak/not color evenly?

[Carl Eyman]

Sande, I'll give you my answer to your question to Jim - though I'll be as interested as you to read his answer. Once you've put some kind of a sealer coat on raw wood your chances of getting any kind of penetrating stain, dye, coloring agent to work PREDICTABLY are nil. (DAMHIKT), So you are going to have to go with a colored surface finish. It probably means making several test pieces which you treat as you have treated the present piece, and then try a number of finishes until you get what you want.

Since you are using a wiping varnish finish (even tho it's called tung oil) I'd go with a Watco, Antique oil, or Minwax Wiping Polye colored with some sort of stain. I'd probably use TransTint since I have a supply of them. I was faced with the same problem on a huge dining room table and had to do the same thing, Thanks to Jeff Jewitt it came out well.

[Chris Barton]

Why not just coat over the previous finish with one of Minwax's "polyshades" combination stain/polyurethanes? They work well and are a simple solution to your problem.

[Sande Morse]

Thanks Carl. I am so ignorant with finishes, I don't know what those mentioned are, but I plan to look into it and do some searches. I'm willing to try this approach rather than stripping. What's the worse that can happen? I have to strip it?
This is a large piece of unfinished furniture we recently purchased that was rather expensive. It isn't like I can use it in the basement since it doesn't please me at this time.

[Sande Morse]

Chris, I guess this was what I was asking all along....Wasn't there some sort of stain or colored varnish/poly that could be applied over the tung oil finish. Since polyacrylic was used inside, I am assuming that I should use a stained polyacrylic there, not polyurethane (being non water soluable ie varnish).

[Jim Becker]

Why not just coat over the previous finish with one of Minwax's "polyshades" combination stain/polyurethanes? They work well and are a simple solution to your problem.



Am I to understand it is possible to get (another) varnish, possibly with some color to it, and go over the tung oil finish? I certainly would do a spot test first. Why would it streak/not color evenly?

To quote/paraphrase Jim Kull, who is a former moderator of WOOD Online's finishing forum and a finishing pro, "PolyShades is the worst thing to ever happen to a can." It is extremely hard to get any kind of even color coverage with this product and so many people have trouble with it. (Despite Norm Abram's on-screen success with it on pine) That said, the same kind of issues plague any mixture like this which is why I suggested that spraying might help keep things even if a dyed finish is put over top of the existing wiping varnish. It's not impossible to get a good result...just hard.