Tung oil?

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Status
Not open for further replies.

Paul Downes

Member
Joined
May 19, 2004
Messages
216
Location
Westphalia, Mi, USA.
I have lots of maple to turn into pens and as I have only turned a few I am still in the learning stage. One thing I have been doing is using tung oil to 'pop' the grain in the maple. I have been setting the blanks aside for a day to let the oil dry somewhat and after reading about CA finnishing techniques I realize that I am wasting time. I hate that! While I have BLO I have not tryed that to pop the grain yet. One question I have is, is there an apreciable difference between tung and BLO? Also, with african blackwood and cocobola and other oily woods should I wipe them down with acetone before applying any finish? I would like to achieve a high gloss finish and am looking for any pointers. Thanks in advance.
 

RussFairfield

Passed Away 2011
In Memoriam
Joined
Feb 10, 2004
Messages
1,522
Location
Post Falls, Idaho.
The significant difference in the final finish is that Boiled Linseed Oil turns darker faster than Tung Oil.

As for popping the grain, I have read and been told for as long as I can remember that we should always use an Oil to accent the grain of a Maple or similar highly figured wood. The reality is that a lacquer (Deft) does just as good a job as the oils and it dries faster.

You might want to try a Deft lacquer finish on your Maple pens and see how it works for you.
 

jeff

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
8,970
Location
Westlake, OH, USA.
Russ, are you a Deft user? Spray or dip? Can you share your process?

I've been using it (spray) lately, but I have not been completely happy. I sand to about 2000, then spray 3 light coats, let dry overnight. Then I even the surface with 800 or 1000, then sand back up to 2000. I can't get the gloss to come back, even sanding to MM12000. If I spray one final coat, of course I get the gloss back, but there is the most subtle uneven feeling to the finish. Perhaps a trip to the buffer with fine compound?
 

daledut

Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2004
Messages
303
Location
Swanton, Ohio, USA.
I hope you don't mind if I jump in. I used to spray a lot of pens with Deft lacquer before I got the hang of CA. I sprayed 3 coats smoothing it between coats with 0000 steel wool. If you want a real smooth final finish you have to make sure it is smooth after each coat. The mis-conception is that you can "cover" up rough spots with more finish. My experience is that more coats make underlying problems worse not better.

If you take a few seconds after each coat to use the steel wool you only have the ripples introduced at the final coat to deal with. I use plastic polish on the final coat and you can end up with a very smooth and glossy finish. Just make sure the last coat cures overnight before rubbing it out with the plastic polish.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom