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Anyone Ever use 100% pure Tung Oil as a finish ? If so, do you wet sand ? What is the drying time between coats ?
Don’t know where you got the coat a month from. For the Tung oil process I use, I start with at 50% or more mix of Stoddard solvent (mineral spirts) with pure Tung oil. I apply a generous coat and let the stock sit for 30 minutes or so, then wipe ‘dry’ with a rag. Note, be careful with how you dispose of any Tung oil soaked rags, they will spontaneously combust. I will repeat the about process every hour or so, until the wood doesn’t seem to be absorbing any more Tung oil, up to four or five times the first day. Each coat takes but a few minutes to apply, and the wiped down goes quick. The following day I’ll repeat with one or two coats. I’ll skip adding any coats on day three, then apply one or two coats on day four. If the finish looks good the next day, I’m finished, just have to let it full cure, which takes three to four weeks, though you can handle the stock well before that. Also learned not to put the stock out in the sun before cured, or some of the oil will bubble up onto the surface.Unfortunately, no builder can make a living using a finish that takes 4to 6 weeks to dry.
Hence the reason driers were added to make it into a oil varnish. Couple coats a day vs a coat A month.
DaveHi Nick,
As others wrote, pure raw tung or linseed oil are not great finishes by themselves. They need some agent to speed drying and curing. There are several choices. Tung oil that has been heat treated or "polymerized" is my current finish of choice. I use Sutherland -Welles polymerized tung oil. Years ago, when I could not get SW, I mixed raw tung oil with polyurethane varnish. That was an excellent finish and the varnish additive dried the mixture quickly. An oil-varnish (of some sort) is a good mix. The third strategy is to add a drier like Japan drier to the oil in the same way painters dried raw linseed oil.
dave
Raw tung oil is one of the worst liquids to put on a gun stock. Did that once 50 yrs. ago , hunted in the rain , by the end of the day , finish was 90% gone. Bad idea. Polymerized tung oil is good for a penetrating first coat or two on raw wood.
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