Adventures in Tung Oil

[Nphocus]

More pics of the process:
https://picasaweb.google.com/nphocus...uresInTungOil#

I really am enjoying the organic nature of the tung oil. No fumes. No gloves required. Good feel to it. These have had the grains filled - I believe - by using 400 grit sand paper on a foam block and a good amount of tung oil applied to the work and sand paper. I sanded all surfaces using the same portion of sand paper and sure enough saw a slurry come up in/with the oil and I just worked that in and around all sides and surfaces. That pic is two halves of the scales temporarily bonded together with rubber cement. I'm kind of concerned about them actually being too thin because of all of the sanding I've been doing to them. That's really ironic because I look at my first pair of scales and think they're too thick! Maybe by the third go around I'll have the thickness and definitely the sanding procedure down pat.

That darn it to heck splintery black palm wood on the left is now buttery smooth. I think the first round of tung oil raised the grain and the subsequent sanding and filling has allowed me to smooth it all out pretty well. I would actually like to try a red cherry stain on that black palm wood and see how that pops. When fresh cut, the grain is very bright and striking and would look great as is with just some clear finish. The tung oil really darkened it up.

I am not sure if I'm going to leave these guys at the 400 grit finish or take them up the scale of micromesh to 12,000. If I do, should I keep working the oil in with a slurry in each grit - 12 or so grits to get to 12k - or should I just stop with the oil and work it just like a normal piece of unfinished wood? I do plan on doing a final sealing and buffing coat or ren wax, if that makes a difference.

Thanks,

Bobby

[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?

[Nphocus]

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.

[Maxi]

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.

[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!

[ScottGoodman]

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...

[Nphocus]

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.

[Nphocus]

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.

[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.

[ScottGoodman]

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!