Buffing out polymerized tung oil

[ibreakemineedtobuildem]

I am finishing a neck usin Lee Valley high lustre polymerized tung oil.Being that I am wiping it on,it needs to be sanded between coats because of little imperfections that happen with wiping.Before sanding it looks just as good as lacquer.What do I use to buff it out?Could I use the same stuff we use on lacquer?

[Rick]

I'm curious...quick question.

When you "wipe on", are you cutting it? I've played with cutting 50/50 or more (varnish, poly-u, ...) with appropriate solvent; thinning it out and wiping it on. Takes a lot more coats, but goes on nice and builds to a sweet finish; no sanding.

Never played with tung oil tho.

Rick

Edited September 26, 2004 by Rick

[Dugz Ink]

1) I have never worked with "polymerized" tung oil... only the "pure" stuff, but...

2) When I do put on tung oil, it goes on thick enough that it flows on evenly, so I rarely have to do any sanding to even it out. After it has filled up the wood grain, I only use steel wool between coats... usually 000 or 0000. (I apply the tung oil with pieces of the fake chamois material that I buy at an auto parts store.)

3) Pure tung oil has nothing in common with lacquer. I can build up a nice outer coating of tung oil, and if I decide that I don't like something about the project, I can strip the tung oil off with a little bit of hot water and an SOS cleaning pad. If you tried that with lacquer, you would probably just scuff the surface.

4) If the stuff that you're using has varnish mixed in, then you would treat it more like varnish, which also does not buff out like lacquer.

D~s