Live Edge Table, Unthinned Tung Oil

[Neil Partain]

Hello Woodworking Experts.

I am a newbie, and have been lurking for a while to be coached through a dining table project of a 10ft Walnut slab.

I have worked my way through to the tung oil phase, and in an effort to prevent too much moisture reabsorption, oiled it with pure tung, but did not thin it.

Now, I am stumbling on consistent advice that thinning the first coat is important.

Have I screwed the pooch, or is there hope to get a nice result still?

Thanks so much in advance.

Neil

[Jerry Thompson]

I have used tung oil on many items and I have neve thinned it. I use polymerized oil so I do not have to wait forever for the product to cure.

[Peter Sigal]

Beautiful!

I have made a couple of those, all finished with pure tung oil. first coat diluted 1:1 with mineral spirits, usually just because of impatience, but I have also used unthinned. You have to wipe off the unthinned stuff more often and it takes much longer to dry. I finish with a light coat of wax but it's not necessary unless you want a shinier finish. Kind of a primitive way to do it, and I am less and less enamored with tung oil as I get older. I find it a little finicky.

I have a related tung oil question but will post separately so as not to derail thread.

[Stan Calow]

If you're thinking that thinning will help penetration, I don't think it does. The solvent doesn't carry the oil deeper into the wood. It sure seems like the right thing to do, but I can't see any benefit to the wood to thinning.

[Prashun Patel]

It only helps it to spread more evenly and quickly. It is more of a benefit on varnishes and shellac than on pure oils.


I find pure tung oil thick and do prefer to thin it but it makes no difference to the end result. You can also heat the oil to make it spread better.

Penetration is a moot topic. Don't worry too much about that.

[Neil Partain]

Thank you all for your experiential input. I did note the uneven spread, but was able to do it first with a Bondo spreader and then rub in/off the excess as needed.

Hoping for a nice Christmas dinner table. Will come back and post final product after a couple coats of Waterlox over.

Neil

[Prashun Patel]

Will come back and post final product after a couple coats of Waterlox over

For future reference, a soft oil can sometimes compromise the ability of a varnish top coat to work properly. Waterlox will be quite darker than the tung oil, and has all the optical properties of the tung oil; so there is no aesthetic benefit to doing tung, then varnish.

If you are going to put Waterlox on now, personally, I would wipe the table with mineral spirits for a couple days to facilitate cleaning any surface, soft finish from remaining. Then only, after it is thoroughly dry would I proceed with the Waterlox.

[Neil Partain]

Prashun,

Thank you for your input( and all of your other numerous pearls on other threads which I have read). I realize now that I may be behind the curve (for Christmas) to Waterlox over the Tung. Talked to the guy at Waterlox, and he recommends 30 days after Tung beforehand.

After I applied the tung oil 4 days ago, I went back in 24 hours and wet sanded with 600, then 1200 with mineral spirits. then wiped down with mineral spirits again.

Having done that, do you think that the Mineral Spirits wipedown will speed this up enough to fudge on the 30 days? So Waterlox x3, wait couple days, sand/Waterlox x3 now....OR At this point, should I leave it alone till Mid January?

Thanks for allowing me to belabor the issue.

Neil