Thread: CA vs. Tung Oil (?)

What are the pros and cons?

CA Fast, great clear look, very short work time and expensive
Tung oil very slow, cheap you still need a sealer. Its great if you want that look.

I agree with Ken.

Drying time of CA and tung oil are like night and day. The price of CA is high but you can get a can of tung oil for about $15.00. The can of tung oil will last for more than a hundred sets of scales.


I cannot comment on the use of CA because I have never used it. However I have used tung oil extensively. There are two different tung oil finishes. One is pure tung oil and the other is tung oil mixed with shellac. I do believe that the added protection of tung oil is important for finishing scales because of the deep penetration. Since scales are regularly exposed to water and various moisture the added protection is good.

Tung Oil is a VERY SLOW application. It takes 24 hours curing/drying time between coats. And complete curing does not really occur until about 2 weeks after the last coat. I do seal the tung oil after the last coat usually with poly.

So the answer is based on your personal desire.

I do intend to try CA on a set of scales to see how they look.

I will post the results after I do the test.

For a more detailed explanation you can Google "finishing with tung oil" to get a better description and some user comments.

I was looking at the polymerized tung oil at lee valley.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...at=1,190,42942

I thought this might give me water resistant, durable and a bit quicker.
CA is superglue? a 2 ounce bottle of hotstuff is $12.50 so I don't think price matter much either way.

Truthfully I don't mind wait time isn't an issue for me I'm doing this for myself and am in no rush.

- Bob

They are both good finishes. The main difference that I see is CA is more of a film former, it covers wood a coating of finish. The tung oil is a closer to the wood finish. CA is great for glossy, and probably offers a bit more protection. Tung oil looks more natural. Both of them accentuate the figure well. I have used them both and been happy with both. I just depends on look you are going for.

Charlie

Sorry to jump into this thread hope you guys don't mind, but how do Danish oil compare to tungoil and CA?

Originally Posted by bjorn

Sorry to jump into this thread hope you guys don't mind, but how do Danish oil compare to tungoil and CA?

Both tung oil and Danish oil are ambiguous terms; the products can be composed of various things. Danish oils are usually mixtures of, oils (linseed, tung) and varnish or mineral spirits and varnish. Tung oils can be composed of tung oil, modified tung oils (polymerized or added dryers) or the same mixtures that Danish oils are made of.

As to your question, it boils down to CA is a good film former, and the various oils, and oil and varnish blends are not as good of film formers.

Charlie

here's a thread from a while ago on nearly the same topic.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=8388

Thanks for doing a search for me ... and not simply saying do a search.
I picked up a couple more nice piece of wood from Lee Valley this afternoon after work and purchase polymerized tung oil, teak oil and CA.

I will simply try them all... woo hoo!!!

I cut a nice set of scale out of basswood this evening as a first attempt using the Wapi scales as a template.

I've got some teak oil soaking first coat on a scrap of basswood now.

So I've made some fancy popsicle sticks but I thought I'd start small



The basswood in teak oil is the scrap on the white tile.

- Bob

Canary Wood, Oak, Zebra Wood, Rose wood, cocobola, dark walnut, birch and cherry.

Let us know the results of all of your testing. It will be interesting to hear what you find/like.