Results: tung-oil and armor-all

[huisme]

Back when we saw the gun stock finished with tru-oil dried with armor-all I wondered if I'd be able to use my preferred tung-oil. I finally tried it without the decency to scrape off the old scratched finish on this bow and this is what came of an hour's work.




Some twelve coats of tung oil. I hit the last couple coats with #0000 steel wool but honestly it didn't make a huge difference. Every coat and armor-all were applied with a piece of cut up T-shirt for either substance.

There's a little tack, but I don't know what's going on there since it doesn't hold a fingerprint for more than a minute and tapping on the surface doesn't leave a mark. Any ideas?

[IdahoMatt]

That is strange Marc.  Who knows what's going on.

[Drewster]

With that many coats of tung oil, has it had a chance to completely cure?

[mikekeswick]

I need to get some of that armour-all stuff and experiment with this idea. Have you tried it with tru-oil yet?

[Roy]

How long do you wait between coats of tung oil?

[PatM]

Armor-all contains glycerin which  attracts and holds water better than a piece of hickory. What exactly are you hoping it will do?

[huisme]

With that many coats of tung oil, has it had a chance to completely cure?

Completely, and I'm sure because...

How long do you wait between coats of tung oil?

About fifteen seconds before touching it, and I checked every time to see if I could leave a fingerprint or scratch with moderate pressure from my fingernail. I apply pretty thin coats so who knows how much that's helping, but here in western Washington this stuff doesn't lose its tack in an hour so I know something's going on here.

I need to get some of that armour-all stuff and experiment with this idea. Have you tried it with tru-oil yet?

I haven't but got this idea from a thread I saw a couple months ago, something about giving back, where a gunstock was finished with tru-oil via this method.

Armor-all contains glycerin which  attracts and holds water better than a piece of hickory. What exactly are you hoping it will do?

It dried the tung-oil. A dozen coats hard as glass in an hour, and all in western Washington's less-than-dry climate. Some days a single coat won't dry in that time, especially if you get impatient and put more on a still-tacky coat. Basically I'm looking to get the same results as we saw in that other thread.

[TimBo]

Ahhh...I should have gone back to find the other thread, but it makes sense now!  Do you wipe the Armor-All off each time? 

[Roy]

It says wait 24 hours between coats on the tung oil can. Putting it on as fast as you are is only dissolving the coat you just applied. I use only tung oil on all my bows, 4 to 5 coats, waiting 24 hours between coats.

[huisme]

Ahhh...I should have gone back to find the other thread, but it makes sense now!  Do you wipe the Armor-All off each time? 

I wipe the bow but I haven't really looked to see how much of what I get off

It says wait 24 hours between coats on the tung oil can. Putting it on as fast as you are is only dissolving the coat you just applied. I use only tung oil on all my bows, 4 to 5 coats, waiting 24 hours between coats.

We might be using different brands, mine says apply coats 3-4 hours apart in good conditions. This is definitely not dissolving the oils and looks very much like the finish in the aforementioned thread. I'll look for it in a bit.

[huisme]

Here it is. I might get some more tru-oil and do a comparison with this technique, see which one I like now that finishing isn't a several-day project

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,50099.msg684161.html#msg684161

[Aaron H]

Is that osage or black locust?

[huisme]

It's some sun-kissed locust. In Nevada a lot of my locust turned orange on the surface because I didn't have anywhere to put them for a week.

Edit: Oh, and it's heat treated starting about where I snapped the pic of the belly, but the back is just tanned.

[soy]

I have done it with tru oil...you need to final coat plain not with the armor all or you will get that dull look

[huisme]

I'll keep that in mind, give it the best chance to redeem itself to me