Hello all,
I decided to try a little of the homebrew I've seen mentioned here:
oil-based varnish, tung oil, and mineral spirits in equal proportions. I
mixed some up and wiped it on a scrap of pine and a scrap of oak. It seems
to be taking forever to dry, is this normal?
Call me impatient, but I put it on about four hours ago and it's not even
tacky yet -- still slippery and oily. Keep in mind I live in Utah where any
moisture in the air is strictly accidental, and it's been at about 65 F in
the shop all evening. Good ventilation.
So have I done something incorrect? Or is this just the nature of the
beast? I'm planning to refinish my kitchen cabinets with this concoction
and I'd like to get it right before I try. Thanks.
--Jay
On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 20:56:54 -0700, "Jay Windley"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>oil-based varnish, tung oil, and mineral spirits in equal proportions.
What's the "tung oil" ? If this is pure tung, rather than a blended
finishing oil with driers in it, then it's slow to cure anyway. Mixing
varnish in there makes it even slower. Warmth and air movement will
help. As always for tung, you have to apply it very thinly. Athick
coat skins over and doesn't allow the underlying layer to cure.
Personally I wouldn't use white spirit. It's slow to evaporate and
leaves an oily residue. I'd favour turpentine instead.
I also think that equal parts in a varnish/oil mix is too much
varnish. I don't use more than about 1/4.
To be honest, I very rarely mix my own oil mixtures. Commercial mxes
are good and cost no more than the ingredients. I fool around
recreating old spirit varnishes from raw sandarac or copal, but for
oils I'm happy enough with off-the-shelf.
--
Congrats to STBL on his elevation from TLA to ETLA
"Andy Dingley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 20:56:54 -0700, "Jay Windley"
| <[email protected]> wrote:
|
| >oil-based varnish, tung oil, and mineral spirits in equal proportions.
|
| What's the "tung oil" ? If this is pure tung, rather than
| a blended finishing oil with driers in it, then it's slow to
| cure anyway.
Ah. It's 100% tung with no driers. Reading your response and Al Martin's I
think I have a much better understanding, thanks. I've thought of it as
having added tung and mineral spirits to varnish. I've used varnish
technique and have varnish expectations. I suppose I need to be thinking
about it as having added varnish to tung, and therefore I need to be using
tung technique and need to evaluate the results using tung expectations.
No, I did not wipe off the excess because I thought I was applying varnish
in which tung had been added, not tung in which varnish had been added. But
since I wiped it on, it went on thin anyway. No great loss here, as I'm
still working on scrap. I can see how this particular mix works when
applied as you've suggested.
| Personally I wouldn't use white spirit. It's slow to evaporate and
| leaves an oily residue. I'd favour turpentine instead.
I plan to experiment with solvents to see which works best for me. I have a
surplus of mineral spirits and so that's where I started.
| I also think that equal parts in a varnish/oil mix is too much
| varnish. I don't use more than about 1/4.
More oil, less varnish -- got it. I've seen lots of formulas posted here
and elsewhere, but equal proportions sounded like a good place to start.
| To be honest, I very rarely mix my own oil mixtures. Commercial
| mixes are good and cost no more than the ingredients.
I have several of the commercial mixes and I find them quite acceptable.
The exercise here is more experimentation than production. Even if I end up
putting something entirely different on my kitchen cabinets, I'm using this
as an excuse to learn more about this particular mix.
--Jay
I like Minwax's version.
tony
"Andy Dingley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Thu, 1 Jan 2004 20:56:54 -0700, "Jay Windley"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >oil-based varnish, tung oil, and mineral spirits in equal proportions.
, but for
> oils I'm happy enough with off-the-shelf.
You did not say whether or not you wiped the excess off....at those
proportions even if you wiped the excess you should allow about 2 days
drying time. I use approx. 1/3 turps, 1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 minwax
spar varnish....leaning a little heavy with the turps.......use a brush and
heavily coat the object....wait about 1/2 hour, depending on the density of
the wood....if you see drying spots, start wiping then. After the 1/2 hour
wipe with a clean old towel, do every inch as any spots you miss will remain
wet/tacky for up to a week. Hope this helps.
"Jay Windley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello all,
>
> I decided to try a little of the homebrew I've seen mentioned here:
> oil-based varnish, tung oil, and mineral spirits in equal proportions. I
> mixed some up and wiped it on a scrap of pine and a scrap of oak. It
seems
> to be taking forever to dry, is this normal?
>
> Call me impatient, but I put it on about four hours ago and it's not even
> tacky yet -- still slippery and oily. Keep in mind I live in Utah where
any
> moisture in the air is strictly accidental, and it's been at about 65 F in
> the shop all evening. Good ventilation.
>
> So have I done something incorrect? Or is this just the nature of the
> beast? I'm planning to refinish my kitchen cabinets with this concoction
> and I'd like to get it right before I try. Thanks.
>
> --Jay
>
I watch David Marks on 'Wood Works' and he uses a Tung Oil finish. I've
tried it and love it. Per directions on the bottle of 'pure' tung oil that
I bought at Woodcraft.....I mix 50% tung oil and 50% paint thinner (less
smelly than turpentine) and apply with either a brush or rag. Then wipe off
excess wtih a dry rag. It dries in about an hour and a new coat can be
applied. Dries supper smooth and gives a wonderfull finish.
Jeff
"Jay Windley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello all,
>
> I decided to try a little of the homebrew I've seen mentioned here:
> oil-based varnish, tung oil, and mineral spirits in equal proportions. I
> mixed some up and wiped it on a scrap of pine and a scrap of oak. It
seems
> to be taking forever to dry, is this normal?
>
> Call me impatient, but I put it on about four hours ago and it's not even
> tacky yet -- still slippery and oily. Keep in mind I live in Utah where
any
> moisture in the air is strictly accidental, and it's been at about 65 F in
> the shop all evening. Good ventilation.
>
> So have I done something incorrect? Or is this just the nature of the
> beast? I'm planning to refinish my kitchen cabinets with this concoction
> and I'd like to get it right before I try. Thanks.
>
> --Jay
>