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I'd already gone shopping for a new bathroom cabinet, when I met David and saw Howard products in action....well once I got home, it took me all of 20 minutes and the bathroom cabinet looked like new. I'd saved myself a $1400 outlay on a new one and felt very happy with myself for a job well done!
Hi there. I am interested in your orange tung oil as a possibility for a finish on a guitar I am currently making. I have researched your web site and tung oil sounds like it could be what I am after.
I have come across other reference to tung oil as a guitar finish on the net. The timber of the guitar is ash? (not sure of what species) but I am led to believe it is a very porous timber.
My aim is to have a natural wood finish that will allow the grain of the timber to show through.Will the orange tung oil give any colouration? I also plan as a final finish to coat in a two pac polyurathane. Will this react with the tung oil? Any suggestions on preparation and application would be greatly appreciated. Would I need to start with a filler/sealer?
Thank you for your time.
Hi John: Orange Tung Wood Oil is a blend of golden coloured tung oil and orange coloured orange oil. Yes it does leave wood with a golden hue. Orange Tung Wood Oil IS the final finish, you cannot coat over it with polyurethane. You make the decision to go natural or go plastic, that's about all I can say on that point.
If you want to go ahead the natural way with Orange Tung read on.
Make sure you have sanded your guitar and have clean, dust-free wood in front of you, this is the way to go: Orange Tung Wood Oil has become a fairly popular choice for DIY furniture makers over traditional shellac or varnish finishes. Tung Oil is itself an essential ingredient that is used in most varnishes. Orange Tung is a blend of pure Chinese tung oil and pure orange oil. Most commercial tung oils are thinned with very toxic chemicals and artificial dryers: Instead of adding those dangerous toxins we simple add natural orange oil in just the same way that the Chinese added citrus oils up to 600 years ago. Orange oil accelerates the drying time and thins the very viscous tung oil down to make it easier to hand rub into the wood.
For your job you would ask for the 'Furniture Blend' which is 70% tung oil. The other blend is called 'Deck Blend' and its only 30% tung oil and is made for easy penetration into large areas. The thicker blend is ideal for hand burnishing.
You do this by making yourself a 'rubber' in just the same way as the old style French polishers used to. You cut slivers of soft cotton cloth and place them into an outer casing of the same material and wad it up into a tight ball which fits comfortably into the palm of your hand. You have your orange tung oil in an open container next to your job and by dipping your rubber into the container and then using good friction rub the oil into the wood you'll find that it penetrates deeply and provides a good look to the surface. When you've covered the entire surface, take a clean cloth and wipe away any excess oil and then let the job sit for a few hours before returning to it and give it another coat. You can repeat this procedure three times for a nice result and more if you want to build the coat up further.
It is highly recommended to give your job a final coat of Feed-N-Wax which is a gel-like combination of carnauba wax and beeswax. This keeps the tung oil from going brittle and leaves a beautiful finish which brings out the natural grain and leaves a low sheen protective coat. For a higher shine and a wood tint which highlights the natural colour of wood I would recommend Howard Citrus Shield which when dry can be hand buffed to quite a nice low shine. It is a blend containing a high proportion of Carnauba Wax possibly the most durable and moisture resistant natural wax on the planet.
One litre of Orange Tung Wood Oil is $35
480m mls of Feed-N-Wax is $33.00
340gm tin of Citrus Shield $45 (Golden Oak would be good for Ash but we do have it in neutral)
Our freight for all or any of these items is $15.00 via courier to your door.
Thanks David for your quick reply. The information you have given me is inspiration enough to take the job on using your products. I will try and source them locally. If not successful I will purchase from you. I did read on a forum whereby the person with a similar project applied 7 coats over a week allowing 24 hrs between coats . Is this excessive?
Cheers. PS: You sure are in the right place for guitars.
Hi John
Yes Tamworth was literally chock-a-block with guitars during January. Probably not all were in excellent tune or in expert hands, but there you go. We recommend a minimum of three coats as being sufficient but I have old timers talk about ten coats. I guess it depends on the finish you want. Some people use straight tung oil with no solvent added and each coat of that will be thick and resinous but will take a long time to dry and cure properly.
We add the orange oil as the solvent to ensure better penetration and faster drying. Commercial manufacturers of products containing tung oil only use about 15 to 20% pure tung oil, the balance being polyurethane, kerosene and other chemicals, solvents and dryers. We satisfy the niche in the market which demands a pure,. Non-toxic product.
Here are the pics of my beautiful new guitar and I am pleased to say she sounds as good as she looks.I don't think the pics do her justice,but on that note I would like to sincerely thank you for your fantastic range of products. As I may have said to you I applied ten coats of the tung oil.I sorry I did;nt take photo;s of each successive coat.Ten coats has darkened the ash considerably but that is exactly what I was after. I allowed three weeks of drying before giving her a wet sand (1200 grade wet and dry) using your orange oil as the medium ,a further week of drying and then an application of wax n feed.I am absolutely stoked. Please feel free to use the pics in any promo,s for your products if you so desire.Thank you once again....
