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The Les Paul Studio Project


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  • 3 weeks later...

A few words about tung oil. Most things sold as "tung oil' are actually varnishes. Please always distinguish between a tung oil varnish and pure tung oil. There is a big difference. Pure Tung oil has a distinctive smell ( I actually like it but some folks hate it), takes between 12 hours and 48 hours to dry (depending on temp and humidiy) and takes probably at least 6 to 8 coats to get a good level of protection on your wood. You should wipe it on, let it sit for 15 minutes or so (again depending on temp and humidity) and wipe it off. After the appropriate drying period, you should use 0000 steel wool and go over the entire surface. Then clean up the wood and apply another layer of tung oil. Something that will help the tung oil to polymerize faster/better is to be exposed to sunlight. )Polymerization is when the new tung oil molecules bond to the old layer of tung oil molecules to basically become one layer of tung oil, it's pretty darn cool IMHO)

Some tung oils are cooked down for a period of time, which pre-polymerizes them somewhat, giving you a glossier finish.

You can find some really good tung oil finishing techniques on gun stock making sites.

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