How to Apply Pure Tung Oil to Wood (the right way)

Tutorial on how to use 100% pure tung oil wood finish the right way. See list of Tung Oils that are not 100% pure tung oil below. I have seen several videos showing how to do it the so many ways, most aren’t even done with pure tung oil and decided I better show how I do it.

Two notes I did not say in the video:
1 - I only dilute the second coat on very dense woods with high Janka Hardness ratings. On most domestic woods, I go straight to undiluted on the second coat (i.e. walnut, soft maple, cherry).
2 - After the piece has cured for about a week, I burnish it with abrasive pads, then you can leave it like that or wax it.

Link to the 100% Pure Tung Oil I use: https://www.woodcraft.com/products/wo...

Now you can use the finish above without diluting it if you want to, to be green or nonhazardous (i.e. using it on a cutting board). If you want to dilute it with an alternative to mineral spirits use orange oil.

I have only heard of people doing this, I haven’t done it myself. So if you do this method please leave a comment below letting me know if you like it or prefer something else.

Many labels make it seem like you are getting pure tung oil (natural oil) when you are not (synthetic oil), some finishes say tung oil on the label and don’t even contain any tung oil in them. A general way to tell is if it smells like varnish, it is varnish. But if you haven’t smelled tung oil before it can be hard to know what the difference is. So for your convenience, here is a list of “tung oil” finishes that are not 100% pure tung oil.

Common brands of finish that are wiping varnish (not pure tung oil):
• Formby’s Tung Oil Finish
• Zar Wipe-on Tung Oil
• Val-Oil
• Hope’s Tung Oil Varnish
• Gillespie Tung Oil
• Waterlox
• General Finishes’ Sealacell
• General Finishes’ Arm R Seal
• Daly’s ProFin
• Jasco Tung Oil
• Common brands of finish that are oil/varnish blends:
• Watco Danish Oil
• Deft Danish Oil
• Behlen Danish Oil
• Maloof Finish
• Behr Scandinavian Tung Oil Finish
• Minwax Tung Oil Finish
• Minwax Antique Oil Finish
• Velvit Oil
• Behlen Salad Bowl Finish
• Behlen Teak Oil
• Watco Teak Oil

Read the whole article: What the Finishing Manufacturers Don’t Tell You http://www.popularwoodworking.com/tec...

Music by Vienna Ditto, “Oh Josephine” and “Whatever Comes My Way”, used under a Common Creative Attribution License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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