Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 21, 2009 01:50pm | #1

   First a question. What particular Tung Oil are you using?

1. 
   SeaMonkey | Dec 21, 2009 03:16pm | #2

   Minwax....it is pretty thin stuff

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Dec 21, 2009 04:24pm | #3

   Minwax is a mix of oil and varnish. It won't inhibit applying a gel stain to darken that segment, albeit at the expense of obscuring the grain to some degree. BUT. If you are going ot use any sort of stain, particularly over wood that has been mostly sealed, you then have to figure out out to keep that pigment from being rapidly worn away by foot traffic. It would leave a visible pattern pretty quickly, dark at the edges, lighter where feet step.

   If you must, I recommend about three coats of a quality specialty floor polyurethane (not the sort of product you pick up at the big box stores.) Because of the tung oil you would be better off using an oil based polyurethane because of adhesion concerns. That is a very different look than you would have achieved by just using an "in-the-wood" finish on the treads. It would be considerably more durable--even without the pigment, the oil/varnish finish would require fairly frequent renewal to keep the treads from showing wear and collecting dirt.

3. 
   Westchester | Dec 21, 2009 06:48pm | #4

   think about trying to kill the gloss in varnish to match the luster of an oil finish. Maybe consider a flat varnish finish

4. 
   WillGeorge | Dec 22, 2009 12:23pm | #5

   Not sure about Wenge but I have used ALOT of Panga-Panga which, I 'think', is sort of Wenge...

   I tested many finishes on it and I gave up! True Tung oil (Rockler clames it is true Tung) never did a thing but get stickie... on the surface. YES, I did rub it off well.. AND in a warm place to apply and dry..

   Maybe, just what 'I' like, but the best outcome for me was using WATCO Danish oil rubbed in with a gray/grey? 3M pad.

   I tried some alcohol based stain and it did nothing but stain the open grain. Not much open grain in my Panga-Panga.. Some silver grain which I think my tangential surface grain, that was sort of silver, was silica? The colored stain looked pretty but not what I wanted for my China dolls canopy beds...

   Maybe a gell stain but why make a wonderful wood artifical?

   Wood is wood and best left as mother nature made it!

   MY EDIT: You mentioned... I made some stair treads.. I would think no matter what you do with gell stains or other will just go away after time.. Why not a common oil stain that can be reapplied when needed, where needed, and still fits with the other steps.

   I would guess you have some person to satisfy to what they want. Nothing wrong with that! If rich folks, I would ask them to go the kitchen and ask how would I change this stone top to match what you want? I think you like it in the first place because it was natural, as the Earth made it! Wood is the same as stone but a bit less forgiving!