Replies

1. 
   HowardAcheson | Apr 06, 2013 01:54pm | #1

   Pure, real tung oil is not a good choice for a dining room table.  But before I go ahead and explain, you should know that there are lots of "tung oil finishes" on paint store shelves.  Most contain no real tung oil and are mixtures of boiled linseed oil and varnish.

   As to real tung oil, like linseed oil, it provides very little in the way of moisture and water vapor protection and virtually no abrasion protection,  It will also need fairly frequent re-application to maintain is little protective qualities.  The surface will be susceptable to moist heat which causes gray or black rings on the surface.

   A step up is to use one of the off-the-shelf oil/varnish mixtures like Watco or Minwax Tung Oil Finish.  These finishes contain a small amount of varnish which adds a  small amount of long term protection.  They are fine for a surface that will not be getting much abuse and are relatively easily repaired.

   My preference is to use an oil based non-poly varnish for the best protection and appearence.  Oil based poly varnish could be used but poly does not have the same appearence as non-poly varnish.  It can be brushed on or you can use the "wipe-on" technique which works well for one not experienced in brushing.

2. 
   roc | Apr 07, 2013 01:45am | #2

   Is Tung Oil Enough ?

   Yes

   That ought to start a fire around here.  But let me explain.

    >I was going to use Tung Oil to finish the top because I have used it in the past on a mirror I made out of Zebra wood and it looked great.<

   >As a dining room table finish, will it be enought to protect the top from stains and watermarks??  If not, it there a way to put something on top as a protectant and still maintain the look of the tung oil??<

   I come at it from a different line.  I make the table look the way I want it to (tables for my own use that is) and then "put something on top as a protectant" . . .

   . . . the best  protectant for your table :

   http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Home-Decor-Cork-Coaster/dp/B003H4QJ2Y/ref=pd_sim_k_6

   http://www.amazon.com/Lipper-International-Trivets-Set-Bamboo/dp/B000ITF6YS/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1365310775&sr=1-2&keywords=trivet

   http://www.amazon.com/Benson-Mills-Bamboo-Placemats-Black/dp/B003UERF8S/ref=sr_1_8?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1365310832&sr=1-8&keywords=placemats+washable

   If Tung Oil looks, on the black limba, exactly the way you want the BLACK LIMBA to look then use it.  A finish may look good and complement one wood and just ruin the look of another.  Oil on ash for instance. YUCK.

   or

   take your time and experiment with a truck load of finishes until you find the finish that makes  BLACK LIMBA look the way you want it to and provides the protection you seek.  Good luck.  Usually it is a trade off.  Warm natural wood looking finish verses a specimen of wood encased down in a clear and plasticy case of epoxy (which is about the only thing that is going to be fairly full proof and still you can mess it up with a pot or pan that is too hot and placed on the finish.  So that still means a trivet so why not use the other table accessories ?

   Practice applying your ultimate finish until you have perfected your application

   then

   finish your table.

   PS: remember . . . always practice safe dining . . . use protection.

3. 
   Westchester | Apr 07, 2013 06:30am | #3

   Table

   Consider one coat of BLO - let dry, then  wipe on a coat or two of waterlox satin .  After fully dry - sand with 600 and follow up with dry steel wool for a flat luster close to an oil look but with protection.  You're not building a deep finish rather the in the wood look.

   SA

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Apr 07, 2013 08:00am | #4

   I endorse Westchester's solution.  A couple of wiped on coats of Waterlox Satin will still have an in-the-wood look quite similar to a real tung oil finish, but with dramatically greater protection from water stains and the like.  Pure tung oil offers very little protection from water--just a smidge more than the zero protection than BLO.  Tung oil is also harder to apply.  It takes at least 5 coats, applied and then wiped off, with at least 2 days between each coat.  If you try to rush it you run the risk of having the tung oil develop a "frosted" look (perhaps months down the road) that can't be removeed short of stripping.

   The original poster didn't mention a specific brand of "tung oil".  There are lots of "tung oil finishes" that aren't tung oil.  A major example is Formby's Tung Oil Finish.  It has essentially no tung oil, and is not an oil at all, it is a soya based alkyd varnish.  It would work fine as far as protection, though it is expensive if you need more than a small amount.  Other tung oil finishes are mixes of oil and varnish.  This is quite a bit more protective than pure tung, though not as much as straight varnish.  One example of this is the Minwax Tung Oil Finish. 

1. 
   two9teen | Apr 09, 2013 08:57pm | #6

   Thanks all.....I have been using Minwax "Tung Oil"

   Steve,

   Nice name....so, if I am willing to use several coats of the Minwax "Tung Oil" do you believe that it will provide enough protection knowing that it is a tabletop and I will be able to reapply easily once a year or so???

   Thoughts??

   Thanks, Steve

2. 
   two9teen | Apr 09, 2013 09:08pm | #7

   BLO??

   Westchester,

   Thank you for the reply.  I unfortunately don't know BLO.  Also is Waterlox a brand?  

   Thanks for the help!!

   ss

1. 
   Westchester | Apr 10, 2013 05:55am | #8

   Brands

   Hey Steve -

   BLO..... is boiled linseed oil - to pop the grain or stain without color (natural finish)

   Waterlox is a good brand of varnish for your top coat and the protection over the oil you need.

   SA

4. 
   roc | Apr 07, 2013 04:14pm | #5

   Yep Steve knows best

   During my experimentation with a truck load of finishes struggling to find a finish that brought out the plethora of beauty in bubinga (and you thought i was just kidding about the truck load of finishes), I experienced the wrinkling/frosting as a thick coat of tung oil cured - oxidized.  It turns to clear rubber basically and just sits there looking at you with no warmth daring you to even consider trying to sand it..

   I did infact wind up using tung oil as one of the sub components of my multi stage finish but only because  one of the main components was Maloof finish and it happens to contain one third real, raw, tung oil.  Tung oil thick or thin by it self on the bubinga did not provide any facet of the look i was after, nor the other two sub components (BLO and poly) by them selves from the Maloof (which by the way i mixed my self so the tung oil in the Maloof was the exact same as applied alone)  but when mixed as Maloof recomended it became the bulk of the hevenly finish for the look I had imagined.

   As Daphnie says on Frasier "I don't know why".

   I am not recomending (or poo pooing) Maloof for your project and i added another component over the Maloof layer on my projects.  I am mearly chiming in on the tung oil.