Thread: Help with a High Gloss Tung Oil finish

Originally Posted by Nightblade

Right on the money there about the hard woods. I used to be a piper.Bagpipes are made of african blackwood which is very hard and dense.Some of the other pipers I knew were always inclined to oil their pipes for fear of cracking and warping in colorado climate, I never did and I never had a crack or warp ever. a little wax and let the wood show it's beauty.

Thats great,I always thought bagpipers were sort of an eclectic lot (actually I sort of thought they were nutcases in a good way,have turned alot of fittings for thier instruments? out of Ivory.
I know nothing about bagpipes but they claimed the tonal qualitys of Ivory is the best of the best.maybe so/maybe not

Interesting thread, I was wondering how you could get a high gloss finish out of tung oil never having seen it. I guess you can't. I agree with with pixelfixed about the old style finishes. I have used Tru Oil on gun stocks years ago and it was a long drawn out process. I would not use it for scales. I just tried a CA finish for the first time and will use nothing else if I want a gloss finish. It is quick and easy to work with and seems tough as nails. I dropped the razor first time out that I put the CA scales on, it took several bounces putting a chip in the blade but nothing happened to the CA finish.

Bob

For the record, you can get a gloss finish with tung oil, but your fingers will wish you had settled for matte. Your first six coats should be thinned to allow it to penetrate the wood. Each coat after should be unthinned and un between the coats, after they have dried, rub the wood with cheese cloth. After doing several coats this way, if done right, you will end up with a nice, glossy finish.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Thats great,I always thought bagpipers were sort of an eclectic lot (actually I sort of thought they were nutcases in a good way,have turned alot of fittings for thier instruments? out of Ivory.
I know nothing about bagpipes but they claimed the tonal qualitys of Ivory is the best of the best.maybe so/maybe not

Yes...we are a bit nutty(thank you Austin Powers) as for ivory neah...has nothing to do with tone.Just old school bling. My pipes were a military style of R.G. Hardies a lot of the old school Brit and Canadian armies used to play Hardies. Lotta new makers now out there. Ivory is of course a no no nowadays. Seems I remember we had a fella in the band who had a set inherited from an old relative and turns out they survived the Titanic sinking .They had fine silver and real Ivory .....giggidy ! And sadley..African blackwood of good quality is and has been getting scarce due to unnatural brush fire and over harvesting...boo ! I was piping back in 96-97 so figure those statistics as of today ?

Originally Posted by BobH

Interesting thread, I was wondering how you could get a high gloss finish out of tung oil never having seen it. I guess you can't. I agree with with pixelfixed about the old style finishes. I have used Tru Oil on gun stocks years ago and it was a long drawn out process. I would not use it for scales. I just tried a CA finish for the first time and will use nothing else if I want a gloss finish. It is quick and easy to work with and seems tough as nails. I dropped the razor first time out that I put the CA scales on, it took several bounces putting a chip in the blade but nothing happened to the CA finish.
If you going to use wood for scales,brush handles etc,CA is probebly the best hit,encase the wood in a plastic like substance.
Wood is great stuff,wood is magnificent,but I always ask myselfhy did the orig makers not use wood? when it was far more plentifull than the traditionals such as bone, ivory,horn.even todays phenolics are far superior than any wood for the applications we have.
why people use wood products for razor scales and brush handles (with the exception of impregnated wood, which in reallity are now plastics)is beyond me,I would never use wood for scales,nor did the originators

Bob

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Originally Posted by Nightblade

Yes...we are a bit nutty(thank you Austin Powers) as for ivory neah...has nothing to do with tone.Just old school bling. My pipes were a military style of R.G. Hardies a lot of the old school Brit and Canadian armies used to play Hardies. Lotta new makers now out there. Ivory is of course a no no nowadays. Seems I remember we had a fella in the band who had a set inherited from an old relative and turns out they survived the Titanic sinking .They had fine silver and real Ivory .....giggidy ! And sadley..African blackwood of good quality is and has been getting scarce due to unnatural brush fire and over harvesting...boo ! I was piping back in 96-97 so figure those statistics as of today ?

Sorry NB, but African blackwood is a very cheap and available form of fake ebony,and pre ban real ivory is not a no/no any longer is the U.S.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Sorry NB, but African blackwood is a very cheap and available form of fake ebony,and pre ban real ivory is not a no/no any longer is the U.S.

Dind't know Ivory was okay again hmm. As for blackwood,all I know is the pipe makers back in 96-97 were hoarding their stocks of blackwood and saying the newer stuff was a lesser grade than what they were using for pipes. They said it was because the overharvesting was causing more brushfires than usual where the blasckwood grew.They said the older blackwoods were tougher but the newer growth was not of good quality. Maybe that's why it's cheaper. I'm no expert,just going by what was said by the pipe manufacturers at that time. Bagpipes are also a bit more finicky when it comes to tone and playing more so than a lot of instruments. In fact everything about them up till nowadays was finicky considering back in older days bamboo reeds and hide bags that required seasoning was the order of the day. So much has changed even from when I was playing.

Not trying to argue with you,just stating what I know from the bagpiping world. Pipe manufacturers were big on Blackwood as the preffered wood for bagpipes as opposed to ebony used for other items and instruments.Don't know why ?

Originally Posted by Nightblade

Not trying to argue with you,just stating what I know from the bagpiping world. Pipe manufacturers were big on Blackwood as the preffered wood for bagpipes as opposed to ebony used for other items and instruments.Don't know why ?

The reason is that real ebony is now considerd a non-sustainable wood,is a hugh black market for illegle ebony.
Sort of like the african blood diamonds and poached Ivory.
Some of the woods you see today are being replaced by almost like and kind,black wood for ebony, vera wood for lignum. they look the same, but not the same.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Tru-Oil acts like tongue oil from what I recall...or at least that's how I used it, it's been years since I have used it on any gun stocks. I use a Min-Wax tongue oil & it works well, gives a deep and warm warm look...just takes a lot of thin coats. I literally use my hands to work it in, could be just mental, but I always heard the comments on a "hand rubbed finish" and I do think it helps...like I said: Probably just mental. I think about 1K, maybe 1500, is about as high as I have ever worked wood before a finish.

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Tru-Oil and Minwax are good. Years ago I finished many, many gunstocks with Casey's Birchwood Oil. Good stuff that gives you a mirror finish after rubbing with pumice or rottenstone.

Jerry
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