Thread: Adventures in Tung Oil

i've used tung oil as well but mine doesn't come out glossy like yours. What steps do you take to get that effect?

Originally Posted by TwistedOak

i've used tung oil as well but mine doesn't come out glossy like yours. What steps do you take to get that effect?

My bad, for the confusion. That's the last pic from this weekend's work. It's actually still wet with tung oil. I'm leaving it to soak in over night. I intend to wipe it down when I'm ready to progress further with the finish.

I really posted this in hopes that someone would be familiar with how to get a nice gloss or at least semi-gloss finish with tung oil and "hopefully" some other relatively non-toxic solution. If you check the link, it will show the different phases I went thru after picking up the fresh cut wood from my local carpenter.

With the Tung oil, you are most likely going to have an end result that is flat or semi-gloss. Polymerized Tung Oils can give you a higher gloss finish, but like our Max has said a number of times....Polymerized Tung Oils often do not contain tung oil at all, or very little.

The advantage to tung oil is that if you cut the first coat, it does a magnificent job of penetrating the wood and results in a product that is very resistant to water.

After your last coat (maybe #4), I would suggest sanding at a very fine grit such as 2000. I've never used micro mesh and gone to 12000, but that doesn't mean that you can't do it. Try sanding it out at 2000 and 2500 and then buffing it. You may like the wood at that point. If you don't, as an experiment continue to go further....

....and then post your results so we can all learn a bit from your process and experience.

Hope this helps a bit.

Looking good! I've yet to try tung oil but when I do knives I soak them in boiled linseed oil or Danish oil for 24 hours. Once dry I buff them up with compound. I've been tempted to try ca glue and sanding/buffing but it looks time consuming and dirty in comparison to using oils. Looking forward to seeing the final results you get!

So you had to go ahead and try the Black palm huh? I found it was a PITA, but once you are successful with making a set out of it they are great looking! Looking good so far. If you are looking for a bit more sheen without the full "gloss", you might try rubbing a couple coats of Renaissance Wax over the tung oil finish after a light sanding of 2K. I am personally not a fan of high gloss on wood scales...but of course that's just one of the many opinions here.

BTW...should get to dance with the PHIG today or tomorrow for the first time...

Originally Posted by shooter74743

So you had to go ahead and try the Black palm huh? I found it was a PITA, but once you are successful with making a set out of it they are great looking! Looking good so far. If you are looking for a bit more sheen without the full "gloss", you might try rubbing a couple coats of Renaissance Wax over the tung oil finish after a light sanding of 2K. I am personally not a fan of high gloss on wood scales...but of course that's just one of the many opinions here.

BTW...should get to dance with the PHIG today or tomorrow for the first time...

Black palm is by and far the most miserable material to work with that I've ever come across. Even my carpenter had some choice words for me regarding cutting the black palm and the next two days he spent picking splinters out... The black palm is like working with an old dry splinter filled sponge. It absorbs finish very readily, especially considering that I didn't dilute my tung oil and it darkened and stayed dark.

The one nice thing about adding the tung oil and letting it set up first before cutting into the material is the tung seems to give it more cohesiveness. It will still splinter, but it's a good bit less apt to. With just the plain palm wood, when you sand it, the light parts are softer and the black parts are much harder, so just sanding nets you a very interesting texture. The problem that I had, is that even with very good sanding it still had snags and it would still splinter.

cyanoacrylate

What brand and how much are you guys using to finish 1 set of scales? I see CA thrown around, but I wonder if everyone is just using plain old super glue from the grocery store or if there is a particular Loctite or 3M brand that everyone is partial to.

Can/has anyone ever used CA on top of tung oil? I mean, just wiping down the surface with acetone and then applying the CA?

What I'm experimenting with doing is pre-finishing my scale material before I cut the scales. I'm curious how far you can go into the finishing process and then cut out your scales, do some touch up sanding or final sanding, and then whatever coating and sealing process.

I have used plain old superglue and the large bottle stuff available at hobbylobby. Both have worked for me. Secondly it works well for a quick laceration...don't ask!

Originally Posted by Nphocus

I work in a Homeshop, so the non-noxious nature of the tung oil really appeals to me. I have buffing compound and was wondering the exact same thing. What color or combination of compound do you use? Wouldn't the compound color the wood?

The oil is plenty dirty too, at least the grain filling is. Oddly, I find it to be the most satisfying. Since I work in my home with little to no ventilation, I try to keep the fumes and toxic chemicals to a bare minimum. The long thin scale on the right was finished from raw with just tung oil and 400 grit sand paper. One additional selling point is that the oil keeps the dust to a minimum.

Originally Posted by Nphocus

cyanoacrylate

What brand and how much are you guys using to finish 1 set of scales? I see CA thrown around, but I wonder if everyone is just using plain old super glue from the grocery store or if there is a particular Loctite or 3M brand that everyone is partial to.

Can/has anyone ever used CA on top of tung oil? I mean, just wiping down the surface with acetone and then applying the CA?

What I'm experimenting with doing is pre-finishing my scale material before I cut the scales. I'm curious how far you can go into the finishing process and then cut out your scales, do some touch up sanding or final sanding, and then whatever coating and sealing process.

When I do knives I go through all the grits hand sanding to finest grit then soak in oil for 24 hours without sanding after. I just cut the top off a big beer can and leave the oil in as rags soaked in linseed oil are supposedly prone to catching on fire if left in sunlight. If forms a nice skin after months of being left out that's strangely satisfying to break with a new knife each time.

One thing to keep in mind is boiled linseed oil will slightly darken light woods but raw linseed oil won't. Once dry I usually go straight to a very fine white finishing compound but I have used black and red compounds first in the past. The worst case scenario I get is a black film that builds up in places on the tang and pins that wipes off easily and still leaves a nice finish underneath. I haven't had a light wood change colour due to compounds as a 24 hour soak must fill the grains in the wood with oil preventing it taking on anything apart from on the surface. I hope that's the case anyway as I make knives for outdoor use and I soak them to avoid rusting the carbon tangs under the scales and liners.

CA glue has come in real handy when working with woods that have small cracks or pockets within the grain you sometimes find after the final shaping of scales. Instead of pulling off the scales and binning them you can fill all these imperfections with thin CA glue. For this I use the cheapest, thinnest poundshop CA glue I can find. Buffs up a treat after a final sanding and soak. I've heard of knifemakers using thin CA glue to effectively stabilise entire scales but I've never tried it myself as it sounds a real messy experience. The time involved makes me prefer to just buy stabilised scales if that's what I'm after as time is money to a degree.

I could well be wrong here and I'm sure someone will correct me if I am but I wouldn't have thought you could use the CA on top of tung oil as the wood grain won't absorb the glue properly. Maybe it's worth a try though, you never know! You could be onto something. I only make knives as a hobby and these are just my experiences. I'm far from an authority on the subject, just thought I'd share my experiences, most of what I've learned comes from mistakes!

Post some pics of the finished scales if you can as I'm relatively new to redoing straight razors and looking forward to comparing results and seeing your finish...

Originally Posted by Sasquatch

Looking good! I've yet to try tung oil but when I do knives I soak them in boiled linseed oil or Danish oil for 24 hours. Once dry I buff them up with compound. I've been tempted to try ca glue and sanding/buffing but it looks time consuming and dirty in comparison to using oils. Looking forward to seeing the final results you get!

I work in a Homeshop, so the non-noxious nature of the tung oil really appeals to me. I have buffing compound and was wondering the exact same thing. What color or combination of compound do you use? Wouldn't the compound color the wood?

The oil is plenty dirty too, at least the grain filling is. Oddly, I find it to be the most satisfying. Since I work in my home with little to no ventilation, I try to keep the fumes and toxic chemicals to a bare minimum. The long thin scale on the right was finished from raw with just tung oil and 400 grit sand paper. One additional selling point is that the oil keeps the dust to a minimum.