Tru Oil is glossy ?

mac1911

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Ok so there are many that say Tru-oil and other "tung oil like finishes" are to glossy.
I think for the most part is people do not apply it correctly or apply it over a stock or piece of wood that is so saturated with oils and other finishes it just does not absorb into the wood.

That's where a lot of people get confused also. Tung oil, blo and other "oil rubbed" finishes are not for that " on top " of the wood type finish like poly and shellac.

Here is a piece of wood. Ash I think ? sanded smooth with 220 then stained with minwax gunstock (the lighter color) and minwax dark walnut. I did not use a pre stain conditioner.

Then I applied tru oil and tung oil to each color. applied it until it just did not seem to absorb any more. Let it stand 30 minutes and removed excess with a paper towel.

can anyone tell me which is tung and which is tru oil ?
Tru oil per Safety Data Sheet is made up of
stoddard solvent , some secrete sauce of modified oils and linseed oil.

Well as time goes on we will see.


I will be applying more coats every 24 hours or more over the next few weeks. As you apply the finish your high and low spots will begin to show. Im going for 5 coats before I do any sanding.
You really should wait a good 20 days before doing any final buffing/polishing to make sure the finish cured

UrFI7U0l.jpg

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here is coat #2 in its wet state, rubbed in until it feels almost dry then I will wipe with a cloth/paper towel in 10-15 min.


Coat #2 dry : lost the 2nd coat dry image

Coat #3 wet : its staring to build up a little on the finishes.
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8th dry above vs #3 wet you really can see how the light plaus games the with the the "gloss" also the build up changes the tones of the stain. I tried to take the pictures under over cast indirect light.
4th coat dry sorry lost the photo in editing some how. When im done the finish will look more like the 3rd to right dark piece in the left upper corner, no gloss

So got to busy to track and post the way i wanted to.

So here is 8 coats.
rl8Uvu6l.jpg

I did zero prep or steps between coats. Just applied a coat every day until 8 coats where applied
The tru oil builds up much quicker than the tung oil but both are glossy if you dont do any follow up finishing.
I did not make an effort to assure a dust free drying zone so theres some dust on the finish.
Im going to let it cure for 20 days then light wet sand and then a final polish with rotten stone. Wont be much gloss after that.

So it depends on how many coats and how you "finish" the finish. I dont like steel wool to buff out the sheen. Heck i rather use a brown paper bag. My grandmother called it hillbilly sandpaper.

Update 9/9/18
So the finish has been curing for a few weeks now. Both have a slight change in appearance that's not picked up by the camera well.
The Tung oil has for the most part looks like straight wood and the TruOil has lost a bit of its luster yet glossier than Tung oil. I will give the piece a quick buff with rotten stone and see how it looks
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If I had to guess, i’d say it were the first two that are Tru Oil. I guess i’ve been applying it wrong because the coats I apply tack up in less than 5 minutes and are typically dry in a few hours. It usually takes me about 15 coats to where I want to be on a walnut stock that was sanded and with 220. I’m guessing your method of saturating the surface probably takes longer to dry, but not as many coats are necessary?
 
If I had to guess, i’d say it were the first two that are Tru Oil. I guess i’ve been applying it wrong because the coats I apply tack up in less than 5 minutes and are typically dry in a few hours. It usually takes me about 15 coats to where I want to be on a walnut stock that was sanded and with 220. I’m guessing your method of saturating the surface probably takes longer to dry, but not as many coats are necessary?
some will say light coat and more of them is best ? Im not so sure because once the oil cures that's it you are not getting the oil any deeper into the wood. I don't think thinning of the oils( or adding more solvents) with solvents helps any either. The oil is just more spread out in the solvent giving the impression its sinking in more because the solvent evaporates. Your just applying less in my mind? Unlike shellac that will chemically bond to each addition coat oils do not. so oils will just absorb where it can or sit on top of the previous coat.
I think this is what happens to a lot of folks. They apply the oils and let it sit on the surface. This just invites a poor finish and problems.

For the most part if you apply Tru oil and it gets tacky I think you might be trying to put to much on at once. Small amount in small sections until complete coverage then hand rub until it feels dry is plenty good enough.

I will update this as I go.
 
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One thing to note is tru oil and other oil finishes do not always play well with oil based stains. The oil based stains also seal the wood to some degree making oil absorption less when appling it.
If you do use oil based stains make sure its dry before trying to apply the finish.
I use oil stains because i have them on hand. i have used water and alcohol based dyes on other wood products.
I might try some water based stains on future new wood stocks. For now im going to just use what i have on hand.

The best tip i got from my grandmother who refinished furniture pretty darn well is never be in a rush with oils. Let them dry. If your in a rush poly coat the thing
 
This actually reminds me that I never got around to doing anything with my CMP special's stock. I had meant to do it as a winter project. I should probably get on that...
 
This actually reminds me that I never got around to doing anything with my CMP special's stock. I had meant to do it as a winter project. I should probably get on that...
Wnat do plan to do. I still have a 1903a4 clone i need to do something with its a shit mud brown right now.
 
Wnat do plan to do. I still have a 1903a4 clone i need to do something with its a shit mud brown right now.
Probably just rub some tung oil on it and do several coats. I've never really done anything with wood and just looking for something that will be easy but still offer some protection.
 
Probably just rub some tung oil on it and do several coats. I've never really done anything with wood and just looking for something that will be easy but still offer some protection.
im tossed on the 1903a4 clone, might strip of the brown stuff and pray there is some ok grain under there
 
im tossed on the 1903a4 clone, might strip of the brown stuff and pray there is some ok grain under there
Yeah the CMP stock is nice. Not sure if I should sand it first but don't want to mess up the cartouche. But if it were an ugly brown, maybe something different would be good.

I kind of want to stain one of my AK's stock but it would probably be easier just to find some surplus. Although I think it might run afoul of 922r.
 
Yeah the CMP stock is nice. Not sure if I should sand it first but don't want to mess up the cartouche. But if it were an ugly brown, maybe something different would be good.

I kind of want to stain one of my AK's stock but it would probably be easier just to find some surplus. Although I think it might run afoul of 922r.
That cmp stamp can go.
 
I am up to 4 coats so far. I have not done any type of sanding or buffing with sandpaper or steel wool between coats. Im going to apply 1 more coat then give it a quick sand with 400 grit and see how well the poors have filled with either oil. Then im going to apply 2 more coats. let it cure for 20 days and buff them out with rotten stone.
 
This is the laundry im building. The shelf and countertop is plain Birch, with 2 coats of tung oil, and like 10 coats of wipe on Poly (50% oil polyurethane and 50% mineral spirits). Well, atleast for the sink, for the shelf I got lazy and just did 3 coats of regular poly. Looks good, just a tad worried of the water.

edit- i suck at uploading pictures, link here:


View: https://imgur.com/hOZ5TH2


hOZ5TH2

hOZ5TH2
 
Ive had good results with this tung oil:

https://www.amazon.com/Moisture-Res...=UTF8&qid=1534277303&sr=8-4&keywords=tung+oil

Most tung oil finishes you see in big box stores dont actually have tung oil. And PSA - careful with the tung oil rags, they can apparently auto combust.
I normally use tung oil. Sometimes minwax tung oil finish. It is very easy to use. TruOil is linseed oil and solvent.

If you want to know or get a rough idea what is in a product check MSDS or safety data sheets.
The problem is they use scientific terms for a lot of stuff.
Also if i understand it correctly they do not have to list non toxic ingredients.
Most of the finishes work and look good.
i like the "wipe" on type finishes as they dont have that "on top of the wood" look like poly and shellac.
As aways the flatter/smoother your wood the better finishes look.
 
Used Tru Oil on a JC Garand Match rifle. Applied a coat, sanded smooth, repeat. Think it took 7 coats.

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Nice, I like true oil and minwax tung oil finish.
I also like 100% tung oil.
depends on the look and level of protection.
I have a stock around somewhere i was going to do one side 100% tung oil and the other MW TO finish.
 
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