French Polishing and Bespoke Furniture
You can apply the oil with a natural bristle brush, a sponge brush, or a soft and lint-free rag. Apply the oil liberally to the surface. Unlike varnish, which sits on top of the wood, the goal with tung oil is to thoroughly saturate the wood cells. When you’ve applied the first coat, let the oil absorb.
3 coats
two to three days
Tung Oil has been around for many many years. It was used to preserve wood ships for hundreds of years. The oil penetrates into the wood , providing a relatively hard surface that repels water, giving it a waterproof finish. When tung oil is not thinned, in other words, it’s 100% tung oil , it’s a non-toxic finish.
Oil finishes include boiled linseed oil , tung oil , and a mixture of varnish and one or both of these oils. You can create a fairly smooth oil finish by sanding between coats using very fine grit sandpaper (#320 grit or finer).
Woodworking Expert – Michael Dresdner: “Yes, I would put a coat or two of oil -based polyurethane on for more durability, and it is fully compatible over the dried tung oil (or linseed oil , or any other drying oil for that matter.) Add at least three coats, at one coat per day.
Tung oil takes up to 48 hours to dry. Polyurethane dries faster than tung oil and takes only 12 hours to cure. Polyurethane sits on top of the wood to form a protective barrier that is watertight in only two coats. When considering tung oil versus polyurethane for wood floors, polyurethane wins the debate every time.
Tung oil finishes are usually applied to unfinished wood, but they can be used over oil based stains .
5-10 minutes
Drying oils, especially linseed oil (raw or boiled), are the only finishing materials that spontaneously combust . It’s not totally clear whether 100% tung oil can spontaneously combust , so treat it like it does. As linseed oil dries, it generates heat as a byproduct.
Tung oil definitely gets hard , but it doesn’t happen by evaporation. Chemists classify oils as “non- drying ”, “semi- drying ”, and “ drying ”. The word “ drying ” is misleading because the oils don’t really “ dry ” or evaporate; they “harden” or cure . The most commonly known drying oils in woodworking are tung and linseed oil .
Because it is oil based, it will have an amber tint. Sure, because soya and tung oil are light colored oils, the amber will be less than a linseed oil based finish, but it will still be somewhat amber and it will be noticeable on a “whitish” stain.
stinky tung oil I use pure tung oil (which I mix with a drier), and straight or blended it has a slightly nutty and pleasant smell .
Tung oil is a viable finish, including the application of wax after it is fully cured, which can be a long time if it is real Tung Oil .