What's a good tung oil?

[1trussell]

Anyone have any favorite brand of tung oil to use to finish a body? I'm going to tung oil a mahogany body for my next project and I was curious as to what others have used.

[Budman68]

Formbys always works great for me -

[sully]

anyone try it as a body finish? i've heard of it being used, but it seems to dry slower than some other oils.

sully

[plon]

I get mine frome this place. It's pure and not cut with any thinners.

http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html

[1trussell]

Formbys always works great for me -

Formby's it is then.

[Budman68]

anyone try it as a body finish? i've heard of it being used, but it seems to dry slower than some other oils.

sully

Yes, sir, that's what I used on the Model 88 and it drys fairly quickly. I applied a coat, let it dry (about 2-3 days to be sure) then scuffed it with 000 steel wool and reapplied a coat. Let it dry for the same amount of time and the used 0000 steel wool and she's as smooth as a babys bottom -

[1trussell]

Dave, did you find the tung oil to darken the mahogany at all? Or did it go on completely clear?

[fett]

"Nice wood!!!!!!!"

[sully]

thanks dave! that's really nice lookin! pretty much any oil that you add to wood will darken or tint it somehow. personally, i think oil really brings out the wood's character.

sully

[Budman68]

Dave, did you find the tung oil to darken the mahogany at all? Or did it go on completely clear?

Absolutely, as sully said, any oil will darken wood. I can't imagine you wanting the mahogany in it's natural state though as it's very "dry" looking and when you apply the oil, it just springs to life and looks so rich!

[1trussell]

All right, sounds good. I'm on my way to having a sweet ass project going.

[slash]

This one was done with Formby's also.

[1trussell]

Then I'm off to get some Formby's.

I really like the way that one turned out.

[sully]

Absolutely, as sully said, any oil will darken wood. I can't imagine you wanting the mahogany in it's natural state though as it's very "dry" looking and when you apply the oil, it just springs to life and looks so rich!

case in point:

mahogany before oiling:



mahogany after oiling (cherry tinted danish oil, to be exact):




it got a few more coats to darken it a bit more, but you get the idea. i've never understood why people are apprehensive that an oil will tint the wood. i can't think of a time when it's not been an improvement.

sully

[Bengal65]

Did you guy's do any grain filling before the oil or did you wet sand the oil in? I just did a White Korina body with Watco Danish Oil. The first coat was the Golden (Sully's favorite), then the second through 27 coats were the clear stuff sanding with 600 Grit as I applied it. The slurry from sanding filled the grain. I learned this trick from a Pro who does fireplace mantels. All the grain got filled. I know the Tung oil is thicker, so less coats are needed.