Emergency Will Robinson! Mahogany Finish Scare!

[adamcr]

I've just buffed some beeswax onto a mahogany body I've finished in tung oil and wax, I let all coats dry and removed residue etc...

After I buffed what is supposed to be the last coat (beeswax) I've noticed that the pores of the wood seem to be darkening as if they're giving-off moisture. I can wipe this away, but more comes.

It's been doing this all night.

Have I done something wrong or is this normal? Will it stop soon?

I'm scared!

[Southpa]

You let tung collect in the pores, didn't have a chance to dry (and likely never would) and now its softened the wax and seeping out. Tung is meant to be used solo. If you wanted to wax after the tung dries its best to clean the residues out of the pores by lightly rubbing 000 steel wool with the wood grain. This should dig out any tung that hasn't dried. Then apply wax.

[adamcr]

You let tung collect in the pores, didn't have a chance to dry (and likely never would) and now its softened the wax and seeping out. Tung is meant to be used solo. If you wanted to wax after the tung dries its best to clean the residues out of the pores by lightly rubbing 000 steel wool with the wood grain. This should dig out any tung that hasn't dried. Then apply wax.

Really?

I was advised by a bunch of people to apply wax after tung.

[Mattia]

Methinks most of us reccomended you never use a straight oil, Tung or otherwise, but use a polymerising oil like TruOil or danish oil. That works fine with wax, and hardens nicely. Apply oil, rub down with fine steel wool, apply wax, buff with old T-shirt.

[adamcr]

Hmmm.

The guy that's been advising me (a pro) recomended tung oil.

Poo.

Anything I can do now, apart from wait?

[low end fuzz]

you should never wax a 'soft finish'

[adamcr]

Is there anything I can do about it?

Anybody?

Or is it just a case of waiting and waiting?

[adamcr]

Should I rub the wax off with mineral/white spirits to let the tung oil dry more?

Any advice would be great at this point!

[Myka Guitars]

adamcr, It appears that everyone who has added to this thread has already given you their advice. Since your approach was different you may be the only one on this thread to have to deal with your specific problems with wax and tung oil. If anyone had done the same thing they surely would have mentioned their solution.

I will repeat what others have said: it seems to me that you did not let the tung oil dry completely before applying the wax and allowed it to build up in the pores of the wood. Since it was not dry (as evidenced by the seeping oil) the wax most likely impeded the drying further.

I think what you need to do is remove the oil and wax that you already applied and to start over. I do not know how to remove tung oil so you may need to contact the manufacturer for suggestions (tell them about the wax too). A solvent is most likely going to be the thing to use but I have no idea which one to suggest.

I strongly suggest NOT using steel wool to clean out undried tung oil from the pores in the wood. This will leave all sorts of steel wool dust in the pores and they will stick there like glue. Not a pretty sight.

To give you an idea of what the process and schedule might look like for a decent tung oil finish I will detail what a good friend of mine who uses Tung Oil all the time does. The process is something like this:

1 Apply a very thin coat (do not get so much oil on the applicator so that it is dripping wet)

2. Let it sit for a few minutes

3. Wipe off the excess with a rag

4. Let it dry for up to 24 hours per application.

Do this for 10-14 days until you have the build up you want. It is quite durable if each coat is left to dry completely. I have never known anyone to use wax unless the Tung Oil was just used as a sealer coat (2-3 applications).

adamcr, maybe you can tell us what your process and timeline was. I hope at this point you see the value of testing everything on scrap wood before you commit it to your guitars. This way you work out the details beforehand and then apply a decent finish on your instrument. You would have saved yourself a lot of headaches.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

~David

[adamcr]

Well.

I went ahead and applied white (mineral) spirit with a t-shirt and rubbed. And applied more and rubbed. And more. And more rubbing.

Result: wax is pretty much gone and the body has stopped sweating tung oil and is looking/feeling pretty dry.

Removing the tung oil doesn't seem like an option (unless I sand mms off the entire body) so my plan is to give it a few weeks to cure completely and then perhaps apply a tung-based finishing oil.

Having been through this, I would not recommend pure tung oil for bodies.

That said, the idea for this guitar was sound rather than beauty so there's really no damage done...

[Daniel Sorbera]

I wish I saw this thread earlier. I had this exact same problem when I tried to finish a piece of wenge in 100% pure tung oil. The first few coats of oil took nearly three weeks to dry and the entire time I had oil seeping out of the pores that I had to wipe off every day. I didn't think it would ever dry, but eventually it did and it turned out great.

I found that using watco danish oil is a *HUGE* improvement over pure tung oil. It dries in 24 hours and it didn't seep out of the pores like the tung oil.

[low end fuzz]

godin;

let it bleed out;

take a few weeks if you have to;

then sand it down w/220; and start again how you originally intended; the dry tung oil will form in the grain like super glue (unnoticable with another applicaation) and it ont happen again PLUS yuo wont get that porous feeling you get with tung on wenge and padouk;

and as soft as tung oil is, danish oil does noting in the long run of protection; i heard it dosent penetrate as far in either