I have a padauk headboard that I have finished, using tung oil. I bought the product on the advice of one of my friends at Rockler, and it is actual tung oil, not the MinWax variety. I wiped on three coats, letting it soak in for an hour or so, then taking off the excess and letting it dry about a day between the first and second coat, and again between the second and third coat.The first coat was cut 50% with mineral spirits, the last two straight. The problem is that the padauk is still giving off red stains when rubbed down with a clean cloth, enough that it doesn’t appear to have fully dried. The surface isn’t tacky — it’s dry to the touch.
Since it’s intended purpose precludes having the stain come off, what should I do? Should I continue to let it dry? It’s been about ten days since the last coat went on. I’d like to wax it and install, but can’t until it is fully sealed so that the wood dye won’t come off on the bed clothes.
Should I apply a coat or two of satin poly? Would this dry? Or another coat of tung oil? Rockler suggested another coat of tung oil with Japan drier, but I am somewhat dubious about this and haven’t yet tried it.
Ideally I’d like to just let it dry and wax it, but I can’t wait forever! It’s curing now in a warm dry spot on top of two sawhorses. Any suggestions?
Jim
Replies
Hi Jim,
What is the name of the tung oil product you used? Also what did you use for staining?
Tung oil takes an exceptionally long time to cure.
My first choice would be to seal the surface with shellac. You can use Zinseer SealCoat which is blonde shellac. This will close off the surface and stop the bleeding. However, I would suggest you give it some more time to cure up before doing this. There are times when impatience with finishing will cost you in the long run.
You can apply shellac with a brush or a pad. With the surface being so oily, a pad would make quick work of it.
You can brush the shellac on full strength or thin it a little say 20% or so.
Practice on the back of the headboard to get the feel of it.
After it's dry you can give it a light sanding with 320 if required or rub it back with a scotch pad.
If you want to put on poly, this is the point you can do it although it won't be necessary. The shellac will be enough. I wouldn't put poly directly over the oil if it is bleeding.
When waxing you can apply it with 0000 steel wool for a very soft sheen and smooth surface.
FWIW, I just finished a tiger maple bed for myself. I used water dyes for color, shellac as my finish and then waxed the surface.
Good luck.
Peter
Hi Peter -- thanks for the reply. The product is Rockler brand Tung Oil, that's it. No stain, just applied on top of the padauk -- it was a really pretty plank. It will darken over time, which is fine, and the tung oil took it from a bright orange tone to a deep maroon.I rub the surface once or twice a day to check for bleed -- a clean soft t-shirt type cloth will get some wood-toned residue. It's been this way for over a week. My main goal is to keep the character of the wood with as little interference from the finish as possible. I'm not looking for a glossy sheen on the surface of the wood, just a soft satin texture. I'll let it sit a few more days (or weeks!) and see what happens with the shellac.
Tung oil nightmare! After prepping a Padua chest top I applied WoodCraft Pure Tung oil thinned with Mineral Spirits. I allowed a week for it to dry - but it rained almost everyday here in humid Florida. My un-thinned test pieces had dried in a couple of days so no worries right?
Not the case as it remained tacky all week - so I bought infrared heat lamps which helped in spots. After 2 weeks I took out the scraper and had a wonderful time scraping it off. Shellack sealer and polyurethane combined to finish the finish in 2 days.
The Pure Tung oil says to thin it with Paint Thinner - but I used Mineral Spirits which I've used for paint thinner without problems. Did I make a big error with Mineral Spirits? I hope not as I have a lot of Tung Oil leftover.
No expert here, but whether its tung oil or BLO, I wait for 3-4 days or more between coats. It has to cure, not dry. If its really tung oil with no varnish, then I'm also not sure what the advantage of thinning is.
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