# Tung oil finish



## wolf creek knives (Jan 21, 2018)

I've got a question for all the "older" experts out there.  In my knife business I use a Tung oil finish followed up with a Carnauba was finish.  Basically what I'm looking for is if anyone else uses this type of finish on their pens.  I use about 21 coats of Tung oil on each handle followed up with about 6 coats of Carnauba wax which I buff using a three wheel system.  It works well and wears well too.  Does anyone else use any system close to this.  It works great for knife handles but I want to try it on some pens.  Thanks in advance for any info you can share with me.


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## Dieseldoc (Jan 21, 2018)

*Tung oil*

I also have used tung oil for several years when turning salad bowls as it's food safe and wares well. However it's a long process and for the most part in the pen world we don't want to take all the time to end up with a finish pen in tung oil.
That being said I have several pens for personal family use finished in tung oil and they seem to ware well. However not much better than CA finish.
Suggest you give it a try.
By the way I have good friend that has summer home on the river just north of you and I have always enjoyed the stay and doing little fly fishing when making a drift on the river.


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## donstephan (Jan 21, 2018)

Are you using pure tung oil or a "tung oil finish" which I've been told often contains little if any pure tung oil.   Pure tung oil is going to build much more quickly than tung oil finish, which likely contains a significant portion of mineral spirits or similar thinner.  The only way to be sure what you are using may be to study the MSDS for the product.

To some it may be semantics but after seeing some discussion I question where wax is a "finish" or just a "coating."  It wears off relatively quickly in use and offers very little protection compared to shellac, acrylic, catalyzed lacquer, and so on.


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## leehljp (Jan 21, 2018)

I appreciate your question and your explanation. DieselDoc hit it. There is nothing wrong with tung oil finish itself. However the time for curing draws out the time it takes to make a pen. 

I can tell you are experienced with finishes, specifically tung oil. You know that knives are handled in a wide variety of situations, humidity, dryness, dirt and grimy hands. I often warn new people that a pen should not be finished as though it was a piece of fine furniture because furniture does not go through the same things and conditions that pens do. For you, your knives do. Another things many people are not aware of - tung oil in itself, and when properly done is a great finish that prevents moisture penetration, whereas waxes and many other finishes don't. It just takes time for tung oil to cure.

The time it takes for most finishes to cure, plus the non-long term durability in pen situations - is what drove so many early adapters to pen turning to try CA. For other finishes, it is a matter of understanding what that finish can and will do in myriad of environmental situations. You get this with knife making. Show us your work!


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## dogcatcher (Jan 22, 2018)

The only time issue I was ever concerned about was the time spent doing the work.  If it takes a week for the finish to dry, that was okay with me.  I had others to work on while it was drying.  My game calls got 3 or 4 coats of my oil finish, a day wait in between coats was not wasted waiting on them to dry.  From start to finish it would take me about 3 weeks to get a completed call.  But my work time was only about 15 to 17 minutes per call.  

I made them in batches, not one at a time, if I cut blanks, I cut 24, 36, 48 or 72 at a time.  When I put the 9/32" drill bit in the chuck, it drilled 24, 48 or 72 at a time.  Every sequence was completed on all before the next step started.  I had specialized tooling that I made to speed things up.  Over the last 54 years, I have acquired all kinds of little toys to go through the process as quick as possible and still have the best product I could make.  If a rifle can handle the weather, blood and guts with the finish, so could my game calls.


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## wolf creek knives (Jan 22, 2018)

Thanks everyone for getting back to me on this.  The product I use is pure Tung oil from Hope's that I buy through Amazon.  It says it's pure 100% Tung oil so I'm assuming it is.  It does take longer to finish each handle but as I always tell my customers, it takes about two weeks to get any knife from me if your first in line.  I had one order that took almost a month to get completely done.  If you want to check out the finish I get you can see them at my website www.wolfcreekknives.com.  I was hoping that if I used the oil kind of like a friction finish I might be able to do multiple coats to cut down on the drying time.  I might try this on a pen or two and share it with everyone.  Thanks again for your help and advice.
Dieseldoc-Your talking about the Craig area I think and that is very close to me, about 15 miles.  I live very close to the Continental Divide at the 5400' elevation level.  I'm interested about your name, Dieseldoc though.  I retired from Chevron USA and spent 10+ years on the Diesel side of the business.


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## liljohn1368 (Jan 22, 2018)

I use tung oil on some of my game calls. But never on a pen.


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## Wildman (Jan 23, 2018)

One thing to remember about all drying oils like Linseed, Tung, and Walnut althought classified as penetrating finish they don’t penetrate that much without solvent/thinner.  
Solvent/thinner serves two purposes, increase penetration & speed up drying times. Have never used newer citrus solvent so no idea how that works. 

I like using pure tung oil & thinned with mineral spirits and have no problem waiting for it to dry between coats.   Used on twist lamps made many years ago, and each one got eight coats.  

Not sure would use it on a pen, but might try Formby’s Tung Oil on a pen.  Whether buy you buy low or high gloss your buying a wipping varnish.  Both used at a refinishing shop worked part time at versus pure tung oil.


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## monophoto (Jan 23, 2018)

I routinely use a friction polish made from equal portions of lacquer, tung oil nad lacquer thinner.  

Shellac-based friction polishes (the most common variety) aren't robust enough to withstand handling, but my experience with lacquer-based FPs indicate that they are a good choice.


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