linseed vs tung... a new question (hardy-har-har)...

[julian plyter]

hi all!

so i'm building some nightstands and considering finishes. i recently finished a hickory desk, the top of which i "finished" (ok, "treated") with tung oil (actual tung oil). i got the oil at rockler, where against label evidence the guy assured me that it was polymerized (by heat, not by chemicals); it certainly seemed so, since each of the 8 coats dried in about a day. anyway after 8 coats and a final fine sanding, the top is smooth as can be, the hickory looks gorgeous, and i keep "accidentally" spilling water on it, just to see if it beads like they say it will after that many coats... so far, it does. and, after that many coats, i'd describe the finish as semi-gloss. it's not quite shiny, but it ain't satin either. all in all i'm happy having used the tung.

my question (*chime in, jim becker*) is about BLO for these black walnut & butternut nightstands. i'm concerned having read that BLO tends to yellow somewhat, and certainly more than tung; i don't want the butternut to yellow on these pieces. i realize that it tends to dry faster (although, with a pure, heat-polymerized tung, 24 hours seems reasonable), and is cheaper; my main concern is that it not yellow. darken=fine; yellow=bad.

further, then: i'd like the finish somewhere between satin and semi-gloss for these pieces - i'm happy on either end of that spectrum. also, they don't need to be uber-protected, since my i don't slam the snooze too hard and never keep drinks or anything by the bed. if i go this route, how many coats should i use of BLO, and what should i finish the piece with after the BLO has cured? sanding between coats? my impulse is to use a wax of some kind... what would that kind be?

thanks to all in advance for helping a terribly obsessive and left-brained noob.

j

[Steve Jenkins]

I can't respond to your BLO question but if you are happy with the tung oil finish on the desk why not use it on the nightstands?

[glenn bradley]

Originally Posted by Steve Jenkins

I can't respond to your BLO question but if you are happy with the tung oil finish on the desk why not use it on the nightstands?

I'm wondering the same thing(?).

[Sam Yerardi]

Julian,

If there is a reason you don't want to use the tung oil approach, and you are concerned about yellowing, you might consider a shellac finish rubbed out with a wax. I use that approach on walnut and get great results.

[julian plyter]

thank you steve! i am wondering that myself. the price difference, although on a tight budget (which, i'm sure, does not make me unique), isn't so major for a project this size. it seems like tung oil gets villified a little. don't you think?

i had seen david marks use tung oil (or, "tung oil," as the case may be) a number of times, and did much research thereafter, and became really interested in discovering its abilities to deepen wood's texture and to help protect it... but now, reading so many threads about it here, it seems that the general feeling is that it isn't such a great protector. then again i did 8 coats, which might be obsessive enough to actually offer some protection... i mean ultimately it's a natural polymer. i'm not so concerned about drying time either, i suppose.

i'm happy to use tung oil. but being, shall we say, the new guy at the county fair, i'm also interested in working with other finishes to find out about them. i guess my real concern with the BLO is that it may yellow too much for my taste... if all goes well with these pieces, i may follow suit with a couple dressers and a bed frame in the same woods, and of course i'll want to finish them the same way. i'm fine with a little darkening, but i really don't want this white walnut to take on a yellow cast, so that's, i guess, the real question.

i never was much good at puttin' things simple.

[julian plyter]

thanks to the other two repliers, who replied while i was slowly typing!

did i clarify?

i just reread it, i don't think i clarified; i'm a moron. from reading in the forums, it seems like people generally feel that BLO is a better choice than tung oil. having only used tung oil, and that only once, i'm trying to decide which would be better for this project. i'm too wordy. sorry.

[J. Scott Holmes]

The draw back to an oil finish is that it must be renewed periodically. Pure TO tends to crystalize if the maintenance is not keep up.

What brand of polymerized TO did you use? Many of them are actually wiping varnish. Labels are written by marketing guys so check the MSDS or Tech Data Sheet not the label. Then we will know what you used.

[julian plyter]

I used rockler 100% pure tung oil...

[Howard Acheson]

Let me make the point that your butternut wood will yellow over time from UV and from oxidation. All woods change color over time.

As to linseed oil yellowing, the yellowing is something that occurs over time. You are not going to see a dramatic change in a 5-10 years. As Scott has said, both linseed oil and tung oil require periodic renewal. The basic rule for oil finishes is one coat a day for a week: one coat a week for a month: on coat a month for a year and one coat year forever.