Tung Oil - Who Uses It And What Kind Do You Like

[Mickguard]

... soak the wood with the tung oil, let it sit for 5 or ten minutes then wipe it dry, totally dry, and polish it. There should be nothing for dust to stick to. If you pick the piece up and leave fingerprints, the surface has not been wiped and polished enough. Resist the urge to reapply for 24 hours. 20 treatments should take 20 days.

I'm wondering what kind of material you use for applying the oil?

I've used cotton mesh, and I've also used piece of old tee shirt. But I'm wondering if there's something better to use?

[unclej]

... soak the wood with the tung oil, let it sit for 5 or ten minutes then wipe it dry, totally dry, and polish it. There should be nothing for dust to stick to. If you pick the piece up and leave fingerprints, the surface has not been wiped and polished enough. Resist the urge to reapply for 24 hours. 20 treatments should take 20 days.

I'm wondering what kind of material you use for applying the oil?

I've used cotton mesh, and I've also used piece of old tee shirt. But I'm wondering if there's something better to use?

i know this question wasn't directed at me but i use cheap disposable brushes to apply the oil and then old tshirts to wipe it off. when i get down to the last coat or two i actually apply very thin coats with my fingers...rubbing it in until i feel some friction heat to burnish it. i generally don't wipe off the last coat..it's very thin..i just let it cure until i can't smell it any more and then apply minwax wood floor paste wax on top of it and buff it out.

before someone flames me for using my fingers..i'm aware that it might be bad advice..you know, that oil might soak into your skin and then all your kids would be born naked or something. but i'm old and so far none of my fingers have fallen off.

[Mickguard]

before someone flames me for using my fingers..i'm aware that it might be bad advice..you know, that oil might soak into your skin and then all your kids would be born naked or something. but i'm old and so far none of my fingers have fallen off.

No worries, the stuff I'm using is non-toxic.

I'd read about the hand-rubbing method on another site too, but they recommended doing it that for the first coats, the idea being that the heat helps the oil to penetrate the wood. Could be just more builder's voodoo, of course.

I'm not certain how many coats I'll do...because I'm using a varnish, not a tru-oil type. This stuff is very resistant, and builds quickly, but doesn't cure all that hard. So I think a thin coat would be better.

[Mickguard]

A followup question:

When you're applying the oil, are you putting a lot on, or wiping on just enough?

[Stolysmaster]

Doug,

Can tung oil be polished to a high gloss after it gets hard; like a lacquer finish?

[Mickguard]

Doug,

Can tung oil be polished to a high gloss after it gets hard; like a lacquer finish?

I can answer this partly...

The tung oil I'm using (Le Tonkinois--look for a marine varnish for the equivalent) will give you a good high gloss, looks almost as shiny as nitro. In fact, they sell an additive to take the gloss down, since most people using oil are going for a non-gloss finish.

I don't think the Tru-Oil types give the same gloss, but I have less experience with them.

On the other hand, there's a limit with oil varnishes. 'Normal' finishes (nitro, acrylic) have a high solvent content--that's why they're toxic and environmentally dangerous. But this also means that each new coat basically melts into the previous coat. So in the end, you get one thick layer on there.

But oil finishes are different (especially the stuff I use, again I can't say about Tru-oil)-- there are no solvents (or the solvents act differently) so each coat lays on top of the previous coat. So when you sand and polish, you risk cutting through the layer into the layer below. Which leaves witness lines.

I've found that applying a thick coat of the varnish I'm using gives a nice glossy look --but it's really difficult to get it to lay flat and it's especially hard to avoid drips (off the edge etc) runs and sags. That's partly because I'm sloppy by nature--a more careful type will have better results.

Once it's polished up, it looks really good--at least from certain angles. From other angles it looks kind of weird--definitely not like a factory-finished guitar. But that's not what I'm trying for anyway.

So there's a tradeoff. For me, I really like it that the varnish I'm using is all-natural and non-toxic. I can work with it in the house, it doesn't stink and it gives a satisfactory result.

[unclej]

Doug,

Can tung oil be polished to a high gloss after it gets hard; like a lacquer finish?

if you're asking if it can be buffed to a high gloss like lacquer i couldn't say. one thing about tung oil or the hand made finish that i use is that the more coats you apply the higher the gloss. i usually stop when it gets a nice semi-gloss patina to it...that's the look i like for my guitars and my sculptures. the natural feel of the grain still comes through at this point.

my only experience with tru oil was on the stock of an old double thumb buster shot gun and the final finish on it was extremely high gloss...not the deep, thick look of lacquer but high gloss just the same.

so if you're looking for a really high gloss look without the buffing needed with lacquer i'd say that tru oil would be the way to go.

[Stolysmaster]

Doug,

Can tung oil be polished to a high gloss after it gets hard; like a lacquer finish?

if you're asking if it can be buffed to a high gloss like lacquer i couldn't say. one thing about tung oil or the hand made finish that i use is that the more coats you apply the higher the gloss. i usually stop when it gets a nice semi-gloss patina to it...that's the look i like for my guitars and my sculptures. the natural feel of the grain still comes through at this point.

my only experience with tru oil was on the stock of an old double thumb buster shot gun and the final finish on it was extremely high gloss...not the deep, thick look of lacquer but high gloss just the same.

so if you're looking for a really high gloss look without the buffing needed with lacquer i'd say that tru oil would be the way to go.

I love the way lacquer looks, that's why I have sprayed using lacquer in the past. And I don't have to buff too much to get it glossed up because I spray my last coat wet enough to be glossy before I even start polishing. The reason I wanted to know is because there are some obvious problems with lacquer over time; easily chipped, shrinkage cracking, temperature change cracking, etc. So, I was thinking that if I could get the same kind of gloss with an oil, I might try it. I know that poly is more durable and forgiving than lacquer, but I just refuse to spray a nice wood guitar with plastic...just seems inherently wrong to me.

A freind has been trying to get me to use tru oil for a number of years. He knows nothing about guitars though, just guns (I'm a gun nut too). Maybe I'll try that when I finish one of the two guitars I'm working on (still) now.

Edited November 29, 2006 by Stolysmaster