Boiled Linseed Oil vs Tung Oil - an unscientific impression

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Robson Valley

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Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
The rustic furniture shop down my street uses MinWax Tung Oil Protective Finish. Tung oil and a bunch of other things.
One coat is satin, soaks in well, darkens that wood only a little. More does nothing more.
When you can't smell it (approx 7 days), time for coat #2. Four coats is water wet glossy.

Sanding does nothing more than shred the surface. Makes a real mess.
Very coarse steel wool is actually flat strands, not round. As a result, it cuts like a million chisels,
gliding over surfaces and cutting off the stand-up bits of wood fiber.

I liked the looks, I liked the techniques.
So many of my wood carvings are done this way, even with some painted parts.
 

Robson Valley

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Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
OK. For knife handles, I do not recommend what I do for carvings or what the shop does for furniture. TOPF is too slippery when cold.

When the first coating raises some fibers, slice them all off with very coarse steel wool.
The wood fibers get cut off with very little effect on the actual finish.

Sure: sand the hello out of the surface to get the shape you want. Then steel wool.
 

KenThis

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
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Cardiff
I used tung oil on some walnut handles and am very happy with how they turned out.

I heated the tung oil to 100C (a bit below the flashpoint).
Worked it in well with clean rags, left it and after 30mins took off excess.
Repeated several times over a period of weeks, after the layers were fully dry to the touch for a couple of days..

However I thought BLO had thinners and hardeners to allow it to penetrate deeper and harden quicker?
So I'm pleasantly surprised by your results.

I'm no expert but I think that BLO is a little more 'yellow' whereas the tung oil is 'clearer'.
For Walnut colour wasn't an issue but it definitely brought out the grain in my handles so I was very happy.
Plus pure tung oil is safe to eat off.
 

Robson Valley

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Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
I saw a lot of the TOPF in the furniture shop before I started to use it. The guys just called it "tung oil."
Eventually I saw the tin it comes in. They pointed out that it was a real cocktail of ingredients.
Label says as above. So read the label.
Their advice was to do a coat then wait until you can't smell it then do another coat. 4 coats max.
I already knew to use coarse steel wool for surface smoothing from painting Douglasfir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), like the crap wood in my avatar.
 

KenThis

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
825
121
Cardiff
AFAIK some oils dry and some harden.
From memory tung oil hardens, some sort of an exothermic reaction with oxygen, it chemically hardens rather than dries.

I realise this seems like splitting hairs but from a practical point, the rags that have been used with those oils that harden can spontaneously combust.
Also I think that the oils that harden cannot go rancid unlike oils that surface dry.

I think if resources were not an issue I would treat handles by dipping in a warm/hot tung oil bath overnight for maximum penetration.
I'd then wipe off excess and top up with a tung oil rag as and when.

The other thing is I never noticed any raised fibres when using the pure tung oil. I'm wondering if the thinners and hardeners make fibres rise more than the oil? I don't really have enough experience to say.
 

KenThis

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
825
121
Cardiff
Good points. I am afraid of dipping in oil overnight, as I am afraid the glue I used to glue the bolster-wood handle-bone together and to the stick tang might get affected.
Also I do not want the wood to swell. Not sure if it would. Not enough experience.

Yeah I wouldn't risk it either without a couple of tests.
Personally I think most epoxy type glues would go inert when hard and the wood wouldn't swell, but that's just guessing.

I'm thinking that there are no real right or wrongs when oiling handles, it doesn't really matter if it penetrates 1 or 2mm as long as it protects the wood and looks good..
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Nice article, good read and well written.

Soaking in oil? Might be a good plan to contact 'tombear' of this parish.
He does a lot of that in rehab for car boot tools.
 

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