Tung oil

[Justin Rapp]

Hi all,

I built a serving tray (below is pre-finished image) from walnut and rock maple. I coated it per instructions with Hope's Pure Tung Oil and have left it to cure. It's been sitting now for about a month. Now it feels like some parts are rough, almost like raised grain again, and even some spots feel a bit 'gummy'. I did raise the grain with a bit of water and re-sand to 220 prior to starting the tung oil. I also gave it a mild sanding between each coat, getting the fine white dust I would expect. I also kept wiping up any extra oil that pushed out for the first couple days after finishing the last coat.

I just resanded the entire board down again (220/320/400/white scotch pad) getting a lot of the expected fine white dust, but of course now the board looks like crap with 'white' all over it. I know another coat of tung oil will freshen it back up but I am thinking i've done something wrong and don't want to end up just repeating this process.

Any ideas on what steps I should do to get this board finished to a nice smooth surface?




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[Maurice Mcmurry]

That is a really nice piece! I am not an expert on tung oil. I do use Watco Butcher Block Oil and steel wool on things food related and other things.

[John TenEyck]

Vacuum off all the white dust and use a tack or microfiber cloth to remove any you still see. Apply another coat of tung oil and then wipe it all off. If it looks good the next day, you're done. If not, repeat. The key with oil finishes is to wipe them all off as any excess will get sticky. The raised grain you feel might actually be dust that has settled in the sticky excess.

John

[Justin Rapp]

Vacuum off all the white dust and use a tack or microfiber cloth to remove any you still see. Apply another coat of tung oil and then wipe it all off. If it looks good the next day, you're done. If not, repeat. The key with oil finishes is to wipe them all off as any excess will get sticky. The raised grain you feel might actually be dust that has settled in the sticky excess.

John

John,

Thanks, I will try this.

Justin

[Justin Rapp]

John,

Seems to have worked. After the sanding and cleanup, i gave the board a new coat of tung oil, let it sit for a bit to soak in and then wiped up every bit of excess with clean dry rags. I'll go re-wipe it down again a few more times today to make sure any oil that gets pushed back out doesn't dry into a sticky mess again.

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[Alan Lightstone]

Pretty design, Justin. Nice job. John, as always, seems to have nailed the technique, and it looks like it worked perfectly.

[John TenEyck]

Glad to see it's working. That sure is pretty wood and finish really makes it pop.

John

[Justin Rapp]

Pretty design, Justin. Nice job. John, as always, seems to have nailed the technique, and it looks like it worked perfectly.

Thanks. I did swipe the design from a youtube video I saw. I really liked the look so I had to make my version of it.

[Scott Winners]

You MIGHT think about playing with hemp oil in the future. I haven't used Tung oil in this season as a wood worker as my my wife bought me a quart of hemp oil early on in this phase of the hobby.

From what I have read, hemp oil works better on harder woods where tung oil loses its luster (so to speak). I have used hemp oil on American Beech, white oak and hickory with no problems, and no apparent psychedelic effects. What you have in post #5 looks great to me. Once I get my hemp oil pretty well used up I am going to bring in some tung oil to see how it does.

[Justin Rapp]

You MIGHT think about playing with hemp oil in the future. I haven't used Tung oil in this season as a wood worker as my my wife bought me a quart of hemp oil early on in this phase of the hobby.

From what I have read, hemp oil works better on harder woods where tung oil loses its luster (so to speak). I have used hemp oil on American Beech, white oak and hickory with no problems, and no apparent psychedelic effects. What you have in post #5 looks great to me. Once I get my hemp oil pretty well used up I am going to bring in some tung oil to see how it does.

That is good to know. I will try it at some point. I also found a company called Milk Paint that sells a 50/50 Tung Oil / Citrus oil that is supposed to seep into hardwoods better.