I’m five coats into a hand-rubbed tung oil finish on a piece in curly maple. The first four coats were all 50% turpentine, 50% tung oil. The fifth was straight oil, as will be the sixth and last. After that, I intend to wax with plain ol’ Johnson’s.
This piece, a shelf, is intended to look very rustic. The curly grain is, of course, the real star. It will not be subjected to much abuse, so here are my questions.
1) I intend to let the final coat dry until I can’t feel it there any more, with wiping twice a day with clean cotton. Do I need to let it sit for any time beyond that, before waxing, for the oil to “cure”?
2) Should I really put some other film coating on it before waxing? The shelf doesn’t need to hold up to water, so I’m thinking shellac if I can’t just wax over it.
3) Any problem with plain ol’ Johnson’s? That’s probably what my Dad will maintain it with, no matter what I put on in the first place. 🙂
Replies
You probably should wait a few weeks to put on wax so that solvent in the wax has no chance to impact the oil. Johnson's is fine. The wax is purely esthetic, it doesn't have meaningful protective capabilities. I wouldn't think you need to apply shellac. It would totally change the look of the shelf, from an in-the-wood satin finish, to a film finish that would have to be rubbed down from the natural shellac gloss.
I wanted to give it to my Dad at Christmas, so a few weeks will work out great. Then all I'll have to do is wax.
Thanks!
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