I'm afraid you have a do-over situation -- strip and refinish. It sounds like it was insufficiently cured between coats (see link).

Tung oil is very fussy to apply. It has developed a certain exotic mystique, but I've seen it side to side with boiled linseed oil application and was unable to discern any difference. So I'm at a loss since it's more difficult to apply, takes longer to apply, risks uncorrectable damage, and costs more without offering any substantial difference, why use it?

Since you prefaced by saying 100% pure tung oil, I think your probably know that most things called "Tung Oil Finish" are simply varnish or varnish-BLO blends and have absolutely no tung oil in them. So if someone else says they got great results, they may be using something entirely different.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tung Oil directions

Thanks for the links. I'm sure you are right in that it must not have been completely dry before I applied more tung oil. OK, here's my next question. I don't want to strip the stain off, so will it work to just lightly sand it after it is dry? I already wiped it down with paint thinner, but it's still a little tacky. Since I'm reluctant to mess with applying any more tung oil, I'm thinking of going with varnish. Is there anything else I need to do before I apply the varnish? Thanks for any suggestions.

Personally, I'd just bite the bullet and strip it off. I think you will have less time, expense and frustration than trying to recover from where you are now.

hm...another issue that doesnt seem to be addressed here is the type of wood, mahogony along with teak, cedar and some other more exotic woods tend to be imbued with their own natural oils that generally push out stains/watersealers/paints and in this case;tung oil, if you havent put this on yet i would advise testing it in an inconspicuous area as it just might not take...just fyi

I stripped the top down yesterday and sanded it. I was planing on just applying a mahogany gel stain as I did before and then do a polyurethane finish (no more tung oil). skanman14, how will I be able to tell if the gel stain doesn't take? I know some type of stain was originally put on it because when I stripped it, the wood is lighter than the rest of the table and I also turned it upside down. The 4 claw legs and middle post (which I don't need to redo) definitely received some type of stain (not glossy) in the past. The top had finish on it which had started cracking and peeling due to water dripping on it for a long time. That was my reason for re-doing. I thought about only applying a polyurethane finish w/o gel stain to the top but it won't be as dark as the bottom. Do I need to put a wood finish on it first? Thanks for your feedback.

I certainly am no expert so my apologies in advance for anything I might say that exposes my nievete here.

Using any 100% oil finish is time consuming and tedious. It also often requires periodic "refreshing" as they have no sealers at all and continue to soak into the wood and/or wear off over time. With numerous coats, they do build a sheen over time that polishes to a nice finish using a good paste wax.

Most stains and especially gel stains I have found, have sealers in them and, in my experience, are not compatable with pure oil finishes since, even a single coat, seals the wood grain at least to a degree. Once sealed (or partially sealed with even one coat of stain with a sealer in it), the oil finishes tend to just sit on top and never really cure properly. In your case, a single coat of gel stain would seal the more dense grain patterns more completely than less dense wood grain areas. This would certainly cause your streaking issue as the oils would soak into certain areas of the wood more than others.

In your redo above, you are going from one extreme to another. The oiled hand rubbed finish to the plastic coat look (IMO). There is a compromise however.

Contrary to popular belief, there are some very good oil finishes that work well with oil based sealant stains and give a good protective finish with a hand rubbed look. One that I have used and does indeed have a pure tung oil base is Waterlox. Waterlox can be thinned, stained (stain added), painted on or hand rubbed. It imparts a beautiful traditional look while providing an nice proctective finish. It also touches up extremely well. Another good product is Formby's. I believe it is a blend of toung and linseed oils with oil based sealants/finishes.

Pure tung/linseed oil applications finish up well with a good paste wax to impart a nice polished finish and seal while tung/linseed oil FINISH applications benefit very little from waxing like this I have found.

To address another poster's concerns, I have never found any mahogany that did not like Waterlox.

To answer your last question, if you put a finish on first then stain, the stain will not take well. Mahogany is typically fairly dense grained wood (especially older pieces) and therefore stains very evenly. At most, I would consider using a conditioner first but I have never found the need to for mahogany.

These have been my experiences FWIW.

Just to clear things up, "Tung oil-based" (Waterlox) does not mean contains tung oil. It means tung oil was chemically combined with a resin (phenolic, in this case) via heat and absence of air. That new product is called "Varnish." At that point, it is no more tung oil than a loaf of bread is "flour." Sure, one of the ingredients is flour, and the choice of flour (wheat, whole wheat, rye, etc.) imparts some properties to the finished product. But that finished product (bread) is not flour anymore; you would not see "Wheat Flour" on a loaf of bread. If you look very carefully at the wordings of Waterlox, you will see the words "tung oil based." If you look at the MSDS, you will not see tung oil listed.

Formby is perhaps the original deceiver -- their "tung oil finish" does not contain tung oil. It is simply a wiping (highly thinned) alkyd varnish.

Not that any of these things are bad products, they are just misrepresented on the label. And since one can't see the chemistry, people believe it and are fooled.

Also if you look at Waterlox's "Sealer" it is nearly 3/4 mineral spirits (deceptively labeled "Stoddard solvent"), so it too, is simply a highly thinned varnish. The "Original" formula is simply a lesser thinned (brushing) varnish.

I had dinner and a post-dinner discussion with Bob Flexner a few months ago. It was obvious that in the 20 years since his first book came out and tried to be a myth-buster, not much had changed in terms of the things we read on the label vs. the things in the can. It's probably the single thing that makes finishing hard for most people.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oil Finishes

Sorry but I cannot resist. By analogy to your argument then, once I cook a steak, it no longer is meat nor does it contain meat. Vegetarians rejoice... sirloin strips are back on the menu!

BTW, my loaf of bread's ingredients listed in order of volume composition per FDA guidelines lists wheat flour as the first and main ingredient. It is indeed bread but it is made from wheat flour and contains wheat flour. Just because it is no longer flour in its original form does not mean the bread does not contain wheat flour.

Also, BTW, Waterlox is very quick to tell anyone who calls their tech line that their sealer is merely a thinned version of their Original product.

woah woah slow your roll breezy, dudeman has a valid point. Extracting tung oil is a very delicate, time consuming and expensive process, I am very familiar with some of these products and i can tell you with some amount of authority that MOST of the "tung oil finishes" are tung oil BASED, sticking to your vegitarian analogy think of boca burgers containing 15-40 percent beef. youd be hard pressed to find a true pure tung oil, the only one I know of can be bought through the "real milk paint company," youre gonna be paying 40 bucks a quart- it is what is is holmes, but minwax, waterlox and formbys all carry a tung oil BASED product. that not to say they dont work, the generally work better and cost less than a true tung oil, thats why theyre called tung oil FINISH not tung OIL. So breezy, the next time you feel like flexing your ignorance, do us a favor and try doing a wikipedia search

oh and to answer to another posters comment about a previous comment , NEW mahogony as well as any wood that is rich in natural oils i.e. tannins simply wil not take a stain or finish unless it is a solvent based and thus very runny, that goes for mahogony teak ipe and some more common woods like cedar and redwood

skanman,

Well, I did preface my comments by apologizing first but I indeed could not resist challenging an argument that, by its own merits, contradicted itself at every point, turn and conclusion. I certainly did not mean to offend bob but merely wanted to point out that just because Waterlox mixes tung oil with solvents and other chemicals to create a finish does not mean it no longer has tung oil in it as bobÂs argument implies. Similarly, just because bread is not flour does not mean bread no longer has flour in it. It is a line of logic truly in its simplest and most basic form. And, for the record, Waterlox is a very good product.

Bob goes further to illustrate his point by referencing that the Waterlox MSDS data sheet does not even include tung oil as an ingredient concluding that his statement must then in fact be true. I believe the MSDS data sheet is more technically referred to as the Material Safety Data Sheet which is required disclosure under applicable labor and product safety laws to list the contents of products, certain contents of which are considered hazardous, and for which safe handling procedures are required. I must admit that I found it interesting on the surface that the Waterlox MSDS sheet in fact does not list tung oil at all. However, not withstanding my ignorance and all, I added the components as listed on the Waterlox Original product MSDS. According to both hands and feet and my trusty abacus, I came up with 75.06% (wouldnÂt Jethro Clampett be so proud!) which does not account for 100% of the material. Since tung oil in its purest form is not considered a toxic substance, could it be that the remaining 23.96% is TUNG OIL that is not required to be listed because it is NON-TOXIC and approved for use in food preparation areas? I merely speculate this to be the case but have called the Waterlox technical line to confirm (since wikipedia did not know the answer to this mystery).

But skanmanÂdude! I mean really dude! Seriously though dude!!! DUDE??? Just exactly what was that in your post that started with "WHOA" ? Sorry but I could not follow it or its point past "WHOA!". I mean DUDE, really, get some ventilation in that high VOC paint room of yours. You say "sticking to your vegitarian analogy think of boca burgers containing 15-40 percent beef. youd be hard pressed to find a true pure tung oil, the only one I know of can be bought through the "real milk paint company,Â" HUH? REALLY DUDE! You need to ventilate that room of yours.

BTW, your milk company has 100% pure light tung oil for $16.95 and dark for $20, not $40. OH, and wikipedia defines tannins, which I am very familiar with, but neither wikipedia nor I are familiar with tannin oils.

Anyway, before you advise well wishers go to wikipedia before flexing their ignorance, maybe you should oxygenate and practice the same.

Tell you what. I have done this on a lot of finishes, but not Waterlox.

Put some Waterlox in a puddle on a piece of glass. Wait few days for it to cure. If it is all varnish, it will be hard and smooth. If it is all oil, it will be soft and wrinkly. If it is an oil-varnish blend, it will be hard and smooth in the center and wrinkly around the edges. Watco Danish oil is about 21% linseed oil (as I recall from a recent formula, but it may be up or down a few percent by now). It will show considerable wrinkling when this test is done.

Waterlox is indeed a fine finish. I think I used it first 43 years ago, when I was 14. But I don't think it's got free tung oil in it.

Left over Waterlox hardens in the dish after several days at room temperature. It is a wiping varnish made from tung oil cooked with ester gum and phenolic resin to become polymerized (bonded mollecularly). Then it is thinned down with parachlorobenzofluoride and other solvents.

I deal with MSDS for work and they can be very misleading. They are not ingredients lists. They are only required to list the stuff that is harmful to you. The amount of each chemical is usually listed as a less than amount. Tannins are not oils they are acids, tannic acid to be specific.

I too wish to stay out of the earlier "intellectual sparring", and just clarify a couple of points. Parachlorobenzofluoride (sounds scary) mentioned previous is only in the VOC compliant required version for a few states.(TB-6038, TB-6035)). The majority of the solvent in most Waterlox products is good old mineral spirits. The Parachlorobenzofluoride versions are shown not to contribute to ozone depletion, and that is why they are compliant in those regulated states. It is a very expensive solvent, and is no more pleasant to use than the mineral spirit versions. Only use where required.

The unique processing of the tung oil and the resin is what makes Waterlox unique, regardless of the solvent. Both solvents allow application and cleanup equally well. Waterlox has performed extremely well for our clients. Ease of maintenance, beauty, durability, and performance of Waterlox is far superior to any similar products we have tested.

The unique processing of the tung oil and the resin is what makes Waterlox unique, regardless of the solvent. Both solvents allow application and cleanup equally well.

The earlier discussed blotching indeed does sound like too quick on the recoat, a lack of absorption, and the fact that straight tung oil really does not "cure" and can lead to the type of problem described.

We recommend an oil stain and Waterlox mix, then 3 coats of Waterlox (all applied 24 hours apart) on almost all our wood care applications. It gives excellent stain results, and eliminates a lot of the problems with other stain / varnish combinations.

hello to everyone;;

Yes I would like to know what to use on my cedar post ,I'm useing them as my bed post, So what type of oil is best..

thanks

I suppose i have a track record with tung oil; I first used it in 1981 or so. It was "Hope's 100% Pure Tung Oil". I got quite used to its characteristic aroma, so when It tell you that Waterlox has tung oil in it, I am getting that information via my olfactory sense. It smells like nothing else.
Pure tung oil penetrates and cures slowly. It dries with a matte sheen. That distinguishes it from most other types of oil. Whatever other resins are added to Waterlox provide for the extra degree of surface build and sheen.
In 1981 I was trying to get a walnut mantel shiny, and after the 6th coat of tung oil failed to deliver any shine whatever, I resorted to a gloss varnish. LOL.
Unadulterated oils will not go over gel stain. The oil needs to go directly into the wood. A modified oli/varnish is called for. The most user-friendly I know is Batrley's gel varnish. It compliments their line of gel stains.

I recently bought a quart of pure tung oil at Woodcraft. It smells about right; I used it so make some varnish less shiny.
Casey

If you use tung Oil as a base material and then process it into varnish by cooking it it is not anything like you started.

The use of 'tung oil' in the label becomes rather misleading at this point.

The product is no better or worse than similar ones that started with a different feedstock.

It no longer behaves as an oil finish, but is thin downed varnish.

There are tung oil based finishes available, and they can produce a very nice finish. They are not a fast finish since multiple thin coats with drying time are required.
With enough coats you will start to form a film.

Varnish is a film forming finish. It does not penetrate very deeply into the wood, but fills in the exposed surface and hardens to a film.
The build rate is higher.

I never use any of the common 'stains' for anything.
They are pigment stains, sometimes with a little added dye, and amount to thin paint.

Aniline Dye is still easily available in both basic colors and blended into shades.
More colors are available in the water compatible dyes than the oil and alcohol ones (AKA 'non-grain raising').

It has no pigments, but is an actual chemical dye.

Aniline Dye and Brushing lacquer will produce a very good finish.
Unlike polyurethane, lacquer melts each new coat into the old.
They can be rubbed out to the desired degree of gloss (if you start with full gloss) and do not create the 'plastic' appearance that poly has.