Last week, I posted a request for suggestions to finish some tiger maple drawers. I ended up using pure tung oil and got the effect I wanted – matte finish, popped the grain and didn’t appreciably darken the maple. However, my wife wants a bit more shine to the drawers. Can tung oil be buffed or waxed? Is is possible to do a topcoat of a gloss Waterlox?
Thanks,
T.Z.
Replies
You can certainly wax your tung oiled surface. The best part about waxing is that if it doesn't have the appearance you want it is quite easily reversible. Just remove with mineral spirits or naphtha.
You can also top coat with varnish. That is a major appearance change when you add the film finish. Phenolic resin varnishes (Waterlox is one, Behlen Rockhard another) are a bit on the darker side, varnishes made with Soya oil, tend to be lighter. Examples are Cabot Varnish (8000 series), and Pratt & Lambert 38.
Thanks again for thorough advice!
Tony
Tony,
Once the oil is dry you can apply the Waterlox. The high gloss is really glossy. You should do some test pieces to make sure it's what you want. Waterlox will darken the wood a bit, so keep that in mind.
Jim
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled