AWHILE BACK I PURCHASED A CAN OF TRIED AND TRUES POLYMERIZED LINSEED OIL AND NATURAL VARNISH. I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDING THE ONE ON TOP OF THE CAN THAT SAYS APPLY VERY THIN. THE CAN ALSO SAYS(CANS TALK YOU KNOW!) READY TO APPLY OUT OF THE CAN. TO ME, IT IS A LITTLE THICK BUT THE CAN ALSO SAYS NOT TO THIN THE FINISH AS IT WILL ALTER THE DRYING TIME. SO I APPLIED THE FINISH TO A PIECE OF RED OAK. ABOUT 1/2 HOUR OR SO I CHECKED THE TEST PIECE AND THE FINISH WAS BLEEDING BACK OUT(BANDAID ANYONE). THE NEXT DAY I CHECKED THE PIECE AND MORE BLEEDING(CALL A NURSE) AND WHERE MY FINGER CONTACTED THE PIECE OIL BLED OUT IN MORE THAN A SMALL DOT. THE ENTIRE FINGER PRINT WAS VISIBLE. IT FINALLY DRIED ABOUT 2 WEEKS LATER. THE FINISH LOOKS AND FEELS GOOD BUT AS THICK AS THE FINISH IS AND THE THINNESS AT WHICH YOU SHOULD APPLY IT WOULD TAKE FOREVER TO COMPLETE A PROJECT. ANYBODY USE THIS FINISH WITH SUCCESS?
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Replies
Bob,
It's one of my favorite finishes, but yes, it can do the things you mentioned. I've seen it bleed and seep. A little goes a very long way. It's possible I applied too much at once and it didn't soak in well; I was using padauk, and noticed the T&T constantly beading out of the grain for a number of hours, even as I had wiped off the excess. Sorry, I don't know the root cause.
I've not noticed that issue with cherry, certainly a more tightly grained wood. Mahogany, QS fir, and sepele also behave themselves with the varnish oil.
I've taken to using Tried and True when the weather warms up sufficiently; my shop is a detached garage, and Mother Nature provides central AC/heating. In good weather, it takes a few days for the "raw" oil smell to lessen, and perhaps a good two weeks for the smell to nearly disappear. The wood that I finish with the oil during cold temps seems to stay clammy for quite a long time; I avoid repeat coats for several weeks.
Cheers,
Seth
Any chance we could get you to post in LESS than caps--which is the internet equivalent to SHOUTING, but mainly HARD to read.
Bob, you can thin it if you want! With naphtha they don't want you to thin it because the solvent changes the viscosity and also it would not be natural as they say. No harm in thinning it.
Also the bleeding problem you can speed up the drying time of the oil by adding Japan Drier. But again it bets the porpuse of using the natural oils. But, it will speed up drying time, and no more bleeding.
If you want a nice oil/varnish feel and look try Waterlox Original.
Hi Bob. I have not tried this but I do know of someone that says he heats his TT oil on a hot plate and it is much better. I don't know how hot or for how long, but food for thought anyways.
I use the Tried and True original finish, which is the beeswax and natural linseed oil stuff. What I do is place the can in the top half of an old double boiler I got at an auction sale, and heat it up till the thick viscous stuff is clear, it is not real hot just warm but it goes on much better and the coats are thin. I wipe the excess off after an hour or so and reapply every 24 hours till I am happy with the look.
It is good stuff and smells great.
I'm sorry to sound like a curmudgeon, but I think Tried and True is overhyped and a pain to work with. Like others, I fell prey to the article a couple years ago in FWW and bought a can to try. I have a heated shop and have no problem getting the temperature to 70 or better, if desired. I heated the oil on a hot plate. I applied thin coats. It took forever to dry. One can was enough for me.
I get much better results using a Maloof-type finish that I mix myself. 1/3 BLO, 1/3 raw tung oil, 1/3 semi-gloss polyurethane. Goes on easily, dries quickly enough to recoat in 24 hours (vs. at least 72 hours for T&T). I don't think you can tell the difference between the two, visually or by touch. Alan & Lynette Mikkelsen, Mountain View Farm, est. 1934, Gardens & Fine Woodworking, St. Ignatius, MT
I just completed a small project in cherry and purpleheart, finished with Tried and True Varnish Oil. I had used T & T original on other projects with great success. This was my first experience with the varnish oil.
My first reaction was that it was too thick, but following instructions, I did not thin it. I heated a small quantity in a plastic container using an infra-red lamp. I poured small puddles on the surface and wiped it on with a cotton cloth, spreading it with considerable pressure as far as possible. After waiting an hour, I rubbed the surface to the point of generating a little heat from the friction. In 24 hours, the surface had dried sufficiently to apply another coat. The third coat was the same. The end result was an excellent finish and wonderful smell in the shop.
I might add that I have had well over 50 years of experience in finishing, and was a bit surprised to handle a product that felt more like Karo Syrup than varnish, but my general philosophy toward using a finish, (especially one with which I'm not familiar,) is to follow the manufacturer's directions. I highly recommend the Tried and True products.
Oh, joy. Another thread about "Tried & True."
These usually generate about 50 responses. Half the responders say it's great. The other half say it never dries The first group then goes to great lengths describing how they applied it very thin, and heated it and accuse the other group of not using it right and the second group then insists that they used it right and went through all kinds of efforts to apply it as described, and on and on and on. And the true believers pontificate about the absence of toxins and they can apply it with their bare hands. Yippee.
I think the best that can be said about the product is that they have bad quality control and the characteristics of their batches vary all over the place. If you get a can of the soup that isn't going to dry (polymerize), well, it won't (at least not for weeks or months). And when you get several in a row from completely different sources, well . . . you tend to become negative. It's also expensive.
It's only an oil finish, after all. And it's unpredictable and undependable. Snake oil to me.
Rich
Oh joy, another Cstan.
Edited 1/13/2005 3:35 pm ET by Peter36
Hey,
Insults are not called for!
That just about sums up how it usually goes around here when Tried and True is brought up.
Cheers
Kyle
Yup,I'm surprised we haven't gotten advice that it needs to be enclosed in an a crystal pyramid to cure properly.Rich
I keep having this fantasy about an environmental chamber where I could crank the temperature up to about 100F, maybe 120F, while keeping the relative humidity the same as in the shop so the wood woouldn't shrink. The goal would be a temperature that's safe for the wood, but hot enough to substantially speed up the oxidization that hardens hardenable oils.With a programmable temperature ramp, it might even be good for finishes that dry by solvent evaporation.I also thought of adding an oxygen tank so I could trickle more oxygen into the chamber to speed things up. But not enough make the thing burst into flame, of course.
It's not uncommon for open pored woods like red oak to siphon oil into the pores and to have the finish "bleed out". I have found this finish excellent on walnut and yellow pine. It must be COMPLETELY WIPED OFF or it will dry tacky. Also as others have said, I would not use it below 70 degrees(F). Let it dry for at least 2 days, then I buff it with a rag and apply wax.
Edited 1/13/2005 3:52 pm ET by ROBANDJO1
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