tung oil finish

[Jeffrey Cole]

I am looking for a nice soft finish for some chairs I am making. 1/3 tung oil, 1/3 watewrlox original sealer/ finish and 1/3 mineral spirts has been suggested to me. This sounds like a nice finish for my walnut chairs. Any help would be appreciated as I am very new to finishing.
Thank you in advance!!
Jeffrey

[Steve Eure]

I use that finish quite a bit, but I substitute satin spar varnish for the waterlox. It leaves a beautiful finish that is silky smooth. I sand to 400 then I wet sand with 600 grit. Usually three coats is all I use. Then I buff it out with my beall buffing system. Love the finish.
Another plus, is that it is easily repairable if there is damage to the finish.
In the long run, I do not know if it will be as durable as a poly finish, but I do like the look and feel.

[glenn bradley]

Waterlox is already a blend. If you are familiar with it I would just use that. If you want to use your own blend (I do almost exclusively) I would avoid tung oil due to the long cure time. Do not confuse "tung oil" which is pure tung oil, with many finishes marketed as a "tung oil finish" which are blends.

For what it is worth, I have taken to using colorants with walnut even though I avoid colorants in general. Walnut lightens as it ages and I color it to stay the same color as freshly oiled walnut.

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Since you say you are new to finishing I can give you an easy but, durable finish that is easy to apply. Mix Watco "dark walnut" finish with mineral spirits, BLO and varnish in a 3:1:1:1 mix. I like Cabot's gloss for the varnish. Apply this with rags or paper towels so that the entire surface is wet. Wait 20 minutes and then wipe it off.

For more durability you can repeat this action 2 or 3 times with just a few minutes between coats. that is; wipe surface till wet, wait 20 minutes, wipe off entire surface, within a few minutes wipe on till entire surface is wet, wait 20 minutes, wipe off entire surface, etc.

For beginners this uses more finish than a more advanced technique but, assures an even finish. You will feel like you are wiping a lot of finish off and throwing it into a metal bucket half filled with water and you will be right. However, you are not tossing out that much finish and this is just the cost of getting a nice finish in a very simple way. Oily rags will spontaneously combust. This is why you toss them in a bucket of water. When you are done for the day, lay the rags out flat to dry, hang over a line or whatever. Just DO NOT leave them crumpled on the ground. They will start a fire.

I have done this sort of finish for years and am comfortable with it. I would keep it simple for now but will explain my method that you may want to try later on. I use my own dye mix for color as opposed to Watco but, the top coats in general are like so . . . a mineral spirits, BLO, varnish mix heavier on the mineral spirits to act as a sealer. This is followed by 2 to 5 coats of 1:1:1 mix. Then 1 or 2 coats of a mineral spirits, BLO, varnish mix that is heavier on the varnish for good film development. This heavier film finish is then allowed to cure (generally a couple of weeks here on the left coast but, it can take a month) before "finishing the finish" with fine abrasive powders or film.

[Bill Adamsen]

Great description of your process ... thanks Glenn! Also the warning about oily rags and fire. I suspect all of at one time or another were shocked to see how fast a Tung oil or Linseed oil rag combusts ... especially when left in the sun.

[Jeffrey Cole]

Great description of your process ... thanks Glenn! Also the warning about oily rags and fire. I suspect all of at one time or another were shocked to see how fast a Tung oil or Linseed oil rag combusts ... especially when left in the sun.

thanks for the help
Jeffrey

[Jeffrey Cole]

That is a lot to digest. thank you. I think I will substitute Behlen satin rock hard for the waterlox. as waterlox is already a blend. I think this will give me a nice smooth finish. Thanks for your description Glenn and Steve, very helpful.
Any other suggestions will be helpful.
Thanks again!!

[Dave Cav]

Another fairly simple wipe on finish is BLO or pure tung oil, regular varnish, Japan drier and mineral spirits. I generally use tung oil if I have it on hand although BLO will work. I prefer to use P&L #38 varnish, which is a conventional alkyd varnish, although (oil based) poly varnish will work, too if it's all you can find. Japan drier is available at any paint store and probably at the home center. The proportions are 5 parts of oil, 5 parts varnish, 1 part JD, mineral spirits to thin to the appropriate consistency, but the exact proportions aren't critical. Brush on the first coat fairly heavy then wipe off completely, allow to dry, then wipe on subsequent thin coats. Sand or buff with steel wool or Scotchbrite pads as necessary. All cautions regarding oil soaked rags apply. (This is just a quick intro and presumes at least a passing knowledge of wiping varnish.)

[Jeffrey Cole]

Thanks Dave for the information. Do you use P&L # 38 Dull, satin or gloss?
thanks Jeffrey

[Dave Cav]

Generally gloss, then I rub it down with steel wool or a purple Scotchbrite pad if necessary.

What I like about this finish is that it dries pretty fast in normal (average temp and humidity) conditions and you can put two or three coats on per day after the initial coat is dry. The down side is that it doesn't build as fast as normal varnish and so takes more (usually at least four to six) coats to build to an acceptable level. On the other hand, since you are wiping on thin coats, you don't have to worry about drips or runs. I usually also like to rub it out to a satin finish, and on a big, complicated piece that can be a lot of work, so I normally only use this finish on smaller or less complicated pieces. For bigger projects I've gone to shooting a seal coat of dewaxed shellac then satin WB finish, right now either Target or General Finishes. I'm trying out GF High Performance Top Coat and I'm pretty happy with it.

[Jeffrey Cole]

Thank you Dave for all your help!! I am going to try a mix of !/3 BLO, 1/3 P&L 38 and 1/3 mineral sprites
Thanks everyone for all your help.
Jeffrey

[Dave Cav]

Don't forget to add a dash of japan drier, otherwise it'll take forever to dry.

[Jeffrey Cole]

Dave there are many brands of japan drier. Is one better than the others? Also what is Naptha used for?
thanks,
Jeffrey

[Jeffrey Cole]

Dave, there many brands of japan drier on the market. is one better then the others?
thanks!!

[glenn bradley]

Dave, there many brands of japan drier on the market. is one better then the others?
thanks!!

I just use the Klean Strip brand from the BORG and have never had a problem. Naphtha can be used in place of paint thinner with some oil based finishes to speed drying. I tend to think of it as more appropriate for enamel paints and heavy film flooring varnish but, I could be wrong. I use naphtha as a cleaning agent in the shop.

[Jeffrey Cole]

thanks Glenn!!