Tung Oil and Mineral Spirits
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- This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by Salko Safic.
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Hey guys… I read a couple places online recently that people use a tung oil and mineral spirits mixture. I have always used the tung oil straight, but decided to try it out today.
It just seemed to thin it out a bit to me… but my question is, what is the real advantage to adding the mineral spirits? Is it a faster drying time, or maybe something else?
11 February 2014 at 12:10 am #27631My understanding is that by thinning the tung oil it will soak deeper into the wood. The mineral spirits will evaporate off leaving the oil. I tried this a couple years ago with a japanese plane block. I taped up the mouth of the block and filled the blade area with tung oil. Left it for a day and the tung oil had completely penetrated the block and was coming out of the ends. That plane block was very stable after that.
Most tung oil sold already has thinners in it. If you want to be sure of your ratio, then make sure you buy pure tung oil, and thin it yourself. Some so-called tung oils barely have any tung oil in them!
I like Tried and True oils more than other oils and I don’t dilute them.
11 February 2014 at 3:27 pm #27673I recently got a book, Bob Flexner, Wood Finishing 101, which is real informative and simple. Explains the different type of finishes, how to make them, apply them, and fix problems. I found a used copy and it has answered a lot of questions for me.
15 April 2014 at 3:19 pm #56176First you need to be sure it is 100% pure Tung like an earlier poster said most claim it to be but it isn’t, then you need to thin it with citrus solvent or you can alternatively use white spirits it also acts as a drying agent. There is another oil out there a german product called Kunos Livos it’s extremely expensive but it gives an unbeatable sheen that no other natural oil will. It is completely natural and therefore food safe as well. I know it has some bees wax in it so there is no need to wax it afterwards. Because it is expensive I have tried to make my own using tung oil but the part I found difficult was melting the bees wax the darn thing just wouldn’t melt I even tried nukeing it in the microwave and it still didn’t melt. So I put a candle on it and got a few droplets but it hardened as soon as it hit the oil. All in all I came close but not close enough to replicate this product.
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