Thread: Frederick Reynolds in Mahogany

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Wow-Beautiful job on the mahogany, and the tung oil really makes it pop! The satin blade is beautiful, too.

Question: When you (and others on here) speak of tung oil, are you referring to the real, old-school "tung" oil, or Homer Formby's tung oil rubbing varnish with drying agents? I ask because I have most of a quart of HF, and have used it with great results on some other wood projects (multiple light coats, applied in low humidity, adequate drying time, lots of burnishing). Inquiring minds-I'd like to try it on some scales!

edit: Would you also be willing to share your procedure on the satin blade? I've got an old Greaves in process that I'm wanting to go satin on. It had some deep pitting, some of which I've left intact. My last step on it was 600 grit greaseless on a buffer. Sorry for the thread hijack, but I love your results here.

I used poly tung oil and sealer. I put about eight coats on including sealer.
For the satin finish I buffed to green rouge then fell back to black emery to finish. I found 600 a little too grainy for my liking and the black emery was smoother without being too shiny. I'll start with 240 or 400 depending on how rough it is, then work backward until I get results I want then forward again to finish. On this blade I went all the way to 80 to get the pits out. Each step I asses the merit of going further; am I going to do more damage than I'm trying to repair? I can manage brute force but finesse and patience I'm still working on.

Turned out amazing! Great job!

I use Minwax Tung Oil with great results as well. Minwax Tung is pretty similar to HF Tung oil I think. It's super easy to apply and you'll love how the natural beauty of the wood is brought out. It will darken the wood somewhat though. I don't apply as many coats though as the OP nor do I seal the scales afterwards. I would really like to try resin or superglue as a finish for scales soon!

Originally Posted by aa1192

I use Minwax Tung Oil with great results as well. Minwax Tung is pretty similar to HF Tung oil I think. It's super easy to apply and you'll love how the natural beauty of the wood is brought out. It will darken the wood somewhat though. I don't apply as many coats though as the OP nor do I seal the scales afterwards. I would really like to try resin or superglue as a finish for scales soon!

The sealer goes on first, it's a thinner version of the poly tung oil, really just pto with more mineral spirits, to penetrate deeper at the first coat or coats. If that's what you were referring to . Waxing is always OK after letting it cure.