Replies

1. 
   RSRose | Oct 02, 2002 12:56am | #1

   Pintail,

   It will eventually harden. You may be running into several problems. Is the Tung 100% Tung oil? If so it is unpolymerized. Meaning it will take quite a while to polymerize (harden) on the wood -10 days to 2 weeks or so. Tung oil can be made to partially polymerize by heat and is then sold as such. Such tung oil will then fully polymerize in days after application. Pure, tung oil will harden much slower. It's polymerization is not accelerated much, if at all, by metalic driers such as are probably in the varnish in your mixture.

   Did you apply it in a very thin coat? If applied too thick it will take much longer to polymerize. Thin, means to wipe it on, wait, then wipe off every bit that you can. If you applied it thick, it might still be possible to rub the surface down with mineral spirits to get excess off.

   Then you might want to get partially polymerized tung oil to use in your mixture. Or get one of the commercial preparations. Minwax "Tung Oil Finish" works well. Despite its name, it contains little tung oil. Mostly Linseed oil. However, the major effect of the finish that you're using will be to deposit a film of varnish on the surface. The Minwax product does that very well. As do other commercial products like Waterlox, Watco, etc.

   Rich

   
   

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   Edited 10/1/2002 5:57:32 PM ET by Rich Rose

1. 
   frenchafry | Oct 02, 2002 03:15am | #2

   I have had that happen. I wiped the whole piece down with a cotton cloth and denatured alcohol. Let it dry for a couple of days and used the minwax tung oil that was suggested and the piece came out very nicely.

1. 
   RSRose | Oct 02, 2002 03:39am | #3

   Joey,

   Glad that worked for you, but I don't think that alcohol will help such this situation at all. Oils and varnishes are not soluble in alcohol. Mineral spirits, Naphtha, turpentine yes.

   Rich

2. 
   DaveinPa | Oct 02, 2002 03:55am | #4

   Question: Would the humidity have something to do with it not drying?

   I am just asking.

1. 
   RSRose | Oct 02, 2002 04:09am | #5

   Well,

   It's not so much drying as "reacting." The solvent evaporates and the resins and oils polymerize. High humidity will slow the evaporation some and will also affect the polymerization slightly.

1. 
   DaveinPa | Oct 02, 2002 04:19am | #6

   Thank you. I learned something today.

   Dave in Pa.

2. 
   Paul_Snyder | Oct 02, 2002 07:48am | #7

   Humidity will slow dry time alot if the percentage of oil is high.Paul

   F'burg, VA

1. 
   JohnKrist | Oct 02, 2002 03:55pm | #8

   I have had some luck lately useing VMS Naptha to cut polyurethane varnishes. Seems to dry faster and build nicely.

3. 
   ETG | Oct 02, 2002 04:26pm | #9

   Professional finishers using the various oils - tung, boiled (most of the time, its really not boiled) apply it heated.  I use a coffee pot warmer - no coils exposed - just a plastic laminate surface.   A warm finish goes on very nicely and its easier to apply in thin coats.  I always wipe down a finish after a half hour or so to remove any residual finish that was not absorbed in the wood.  Chris Becksvort's article in FWW several issues ago outlines a good practice.

1. 
   efarmer4 | Oct 02, 2002 08:08pm | #10

   So after it is heated does the extra finish set up in the can? Should I be heating just what I can use or can you reheat it over and over?

   Thanks, Edward

2. 
   LeeEschen | Oct 02, 2002 08:14pm | #11

   I use an electric frying pan set on very low for my 1/2 or 2/3 linseed oil 1/2 or 1/3 turpentine or mineral spirits mixture. I apply it with "Rags in a Box" and carefully dispose of the used "rags" to avoid spontaneous combustion fires.

   I also use the Watco products, which do not really need the warming.

   Both finishes give a great looking finish. The Watco offers a bit better protection to the wood surface.

1. 
   ETG | Oct 02, 2002 09:59pm | #12

   Great idea - and you are right - the products you are using are thin so they don't really need heating.  I use Tried & True - it's very thick - like syrup but I do like the end result.

2. 
   booch | Oct 05, 2002 12:05am | #13

   Watco is good for color and depth but I've got a clock face that got touched by rain and i wouldn't ever consider leaving watco at the top finish unless the product was in a gallery on exhibition. Try some Polyurethane finish over the Watco. I use the Flecto Varathane Professional stuff which is really thin and a joy to use. Drys as hard as glass too.

1. 
   LeeEschen | Oct 06, 2002 01:08am | #15

   Have you tried going over the clock with more Watco? It is a repairable finish.

1. 
   booch | Oct 07, 2002 04:12am | #17

   Did that several times over the last few years. I get to see it everytime I go to see the MO-IN-Law. Just dropped her off tonight in fact. I retouched it with 200 grit and Watco. The water marks have diminished with time but you can still see where the water spots kinda meld or flow, but the damage is done.

   Like I said, my first finish shot is Watco. However I don't find oil finishes long term reliable enough.

   I think FWW confuses us "artistmen".  There are objectives for a museum piece. There are objectives for a usable object de art. The objectives are different.

   Museums are all about keeping the chair from the pyramids looking like king tutankmen sat in it last week. For them it is a godsend that someone uses beeswax or shelac or for that matter Boiled linseed oil (Watco). The finish is spectacular and if it ever gets boobooed it can be rejuvenated by thinning the material with the old vehicle (Oil, Alcohol, Heat) and refinish it like the slave did in king Tut's time.

   The usable object de art is the coffee table, magazine rack, or clock face we gin up. Some are irreplacable beauties but will never make it past your wife's second husband or will hold less appeal to the next generation that will inherit the item. The item has to be appreciated in the creators lifetime cause it might not need to be fixable in the next.

   The problem with these rejuvenatable finishes is the lone wineglass with a splash of Merlot on the base. It leaves a ring that is either ignored or needs to be repaired. The redwine get you into a oxcilic acid cleaning job then a refinish.

   For what?   So it can be done again in 3 years?

   Hey it just is a lot easier to put on a propholactic coat after I bring out the color with the watco. No muss no fuss and I don't walk around like Ward Cleaver handing out coasters to my guests. I try to keep on the task of the conversation rather than eyeball the possible problem to reeducate the user.

2. 
   LeeEschen | Oct 07, 2002 10:49am | #18

   You do have a point, Booch. If the kids were still young and around a lot, I'd probably go along with you. Not necessarily agree fully, but do it anyway out of expediency. Kids are the main reason for hard surface finishes. But to me they feel cold and uncomfortable (the surface finishes, not the kids).

   My youngest is now 16 and has already passed his GED with flying colors. He's taking this year off and, having already been accepted at OSU, is planning to start college in fall of 2003. I do have grandkids from my older grown children visiting occasionally, but they are well behaved and have never marked my furniture. Not that it couldn't happen, even by adults, but for my money, oil finishes (linseed, Watco, etc) give the finest results, are repairable, and they suit me. What more could I ask?

   A heavy oak coffee I refinished with Watco a few years back has seen much hard use and yet still looks beautiful and unmarred. It feels like me. I will probably now remember to give it a refresher coat sometime soon. It has waited patiently for so long.

3. 
   booch | Oct 07, 2002 05:57pm | #19

   I need to acknowledge the rain hit this finish when the Watco was not on the surface for more than 6 hours. Just dribbles from the trunk lid but enough to irk me.

   Try my method for top surfaces a wetsand (with a few dribbles of water to float the paper) with 200 plus grit on the polyurethane finish. I hit it once after the first coat dries for 24 hours then float on a pristine coat after that. It can be beautiful, textural and resilient.

   I'd never be w/o watco but the final coating does it for my sanity.

4. 
   JEvans | Oct 05, 2002 11:38pm | #14

   I've had a similar experience. I thinned fast dry varnish with naptha 50/50 to make a wiping varnish.  It should have dried in a couple hours at the most. Some parts did, others stayed tacky for a few days. I just had to patiently wait it out. The next couple coats dried within an hour. I noticed something odd. The pieces were plum pudding mahogany and flatcut mahogany veneer over a poplar core. It was only the plum pudding mahogany sides that didn't dry quickly. There weren't any differences with veneering, finishing or air circulation. I'm still scratching my head????

   Bottom line, wait patiently as difficult as it may be.

   Jeff

1. 
   Pintail6 | Oct 06, 2002 04:52am | #16

   Jeff,

   Thanks, I could patiently wait but my client won't.  I solved the problem by removing the excess with Naptha and using a comertial tung oil finish.  the table now looks great - its just 2 weeks later than I planned.

5. 
   Upraiser | Oct 08, 2002 06:04am | #20

   Lots of interesting comments on drying the oil finish, but none suggested that you place the work in direct sunlight.    Works on lots of oil based products, Watco, oil based stains, linseed oils etc.  I don't know about tung oil. 

   The factory finishers use UV light to cure finishes.

   Learned it from a gun stock maker, used to hang them out on a clothes line in the direct sunlight so they would "dry" faster, actually cure was a better word.

   I used it a few weeks ago when I had to add some stain to color some wood that already had been finished but needed a bit more color to match an older piece.  I sprayed the stain on, left it alone in the shop for 2 days, still tacky, set it in direct sunlight and it was nice and hard in about 4 hours.

   It helps to have lots of dry sunny weather.

   Curt