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View Full Version : Tung Oil Mix Formula Question



Kevin Woolever
11-30-2006, 7:40 PM
I am a new member and just want to say "Hi", and ask if anyone can help me get a good formula. I wacth a woodworker on tv that uses tung oil and the grain leaps off his projects.

I started with some very figured walnut, and wanted to get the same kind of finish that he got. Well, I didn't get it. I used a 1/3 tung oil, 1/3 mineral spirits and a 1/3 clear poly. I got a muddy looking mess after 3 applications. I buffed the project with some clean rags got it so the pattern of the grain and figured showed, but no where near the luster that I would have gotten with the poly or spray lacquer I normally would use to finish one of the my projects. To get a little of that back I topcated with 2 coats of thclear poly.

Can anyone tell me a mix that would have given me the the finish I wanted?

Howard Acheson
11-30-2006, 11:29 PM
That woodworker (David Marks) uses General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. In his earlier shows he referred to it as "tung oil". In fact, it never contained any real tung oil and he had to stop referring to it that way. Arm-R-Seal is a thinned wiping varnish. It will nicely "pop" the grain. You can make your own thinned wiping varnish by mixing your favorite varnish 50/50 with mineral spirits.

What you mixed up was an oil/varnish mixture. It is also called Danish Oil. It is a finish designed to be absorbed into the wood, not to build a film on top of the wood. It gives a soft glow to the wood--not a gloss. It's not very protective compared to a film finish.

Matt P
12-01-2006, 12:42 AM
Kevin,
I sympathize. I have been experimenting with walnut. I find that if you have the time, pad on garnet shellac and rub out - gives a *beautiful* finish that cannot be compared (IMHO) to any rubbed on oil finish. I recently tried wiping on a Watco danish oil/BLO/poly mix (1/3 each). Seems fine, but darkens the wood a lot, but it is pretty sure-fire easy and dependable. I've used straight varnish too, but IMHO it gives the walnut a "cold brown" look, where as the garnet shellac gives a great rich warm look.
Matt

jeremy levine
12-01-2006, 9:42 AM
I'm going to be using just Boiled linseed oil ( with luck) over the weekend ,
I might me able to post some before and after pics. Maybe it will give some of
the pop you are after.

Kevin Woolever
12-01-2006, 4:08 PM
The project I was finishing was lazy susan. I flipped the project over to finsih the bottom since my first post. Using the Woodcraft 100% tung oil, I applied it to bottom of my highly figured top board, I got the same results as my post. But to my suprise the base board of the lazy susan, made out a plain piece walnut finished GREAT!

So I guess it fails back to me, poor finish to wood selection.

Thanks for all the helpful info