Product Review--Corey's Tung Oil

[Dean Center]

Some months ago, there was a discussion on the forum about pure Tung Oil and one of our more hirsute participants recommended Corey's Tung Oil.

I really like tung oil as a finish and decided to order some tung oil and citrus solvent (limonene). Email didn't work too well, so I called to place the order, which is the preferred method for them. Corey Freedman turns out to be a very passionate guy, about skin boats and natural materials, and recommended Corey's Amazing Tung Oil for wood turned objects. This blended product contains citrus oil solvent, pure tung oil and a pine resin. Corey thinks the pine resin is a big part of the beneficial effect.

I tried the Amazing Tung Oil product and found that the resin created a 'gunky' surface, particularly troublesome if trying to sand between coats, and the finish was dull and lifeless. I contacted Corey and he swapped the Amazing Tung Oil for a quart of Limonene and a quart of the Pure Tung Oil. He suggests a 50/50 dilution for the first coat and full strength for the second.

I mixed the two ingredients 50/50 and applied to 18 crabapple bowls, and found it to be a little thinner than tung oil products I've used before, but easy to apply, soaking quickly into the wood, and very pleasant smelling. For the second coat, I tried a repeat of 50/50 on half the bowls in the trial and full strength on the other half. The full strength was a little too thick and sticky, but still quickly absorbed and producing a uniform, smudge/streak/run free finish.

After 2-3 days, the delicious odor of the limonene was gone, and there was no obvious tung oil aroma, unless I sniffed right up at the wood. I would have been tempted to say it was cured at that point, but it took about 3 weeks for the finish to be completely non-tacky and aroma free. One of my goals was to get a completed and ready to give bowl faster than with previous tung oil products, and the Corey's Tung Oil was a little but not markedly faster, but the bowls look terrific, with a warm hue and soft luster, exactly what I like with fruit wood.

One unexpected feature is that the Tung Oil comes in a little plastic bucket with a lid, like pre-mixed spackle, rather than a metal tin like most finish products. The tub is unhandy compared to a tin with a screw top. On the plus side, pure tung oil should have an indefinite shelf life, as should the limonene (citrus oil) solvent

In the future, I'm going to try 1/3 solvent/tung oil, and I'm also going to try applying additional coats to see if I can build up a glossier surface.

Overall, I like the Pure Tung Oil product and limonene, but cannot recommend the Amazing Tung Oil blend to woodturners.

 

[Stan Semeniuk]

I am a big fan of Tung Oil and have worked extensively with it on turnings as well as furniture. I have tried the pure mix but find the curing time far to long and have since switch to the polymerized version. I have gone with as many as 6 coats on some furniture pieces to build a nice luster and have what I would call a full cure after 5 days or less. For the first coat I cut with mineral spirits, I know it stinks but works great and flashes off in less than 24 hrs.

 

[Emiliano Achaval]

Some months ago, there was a discussion on the forum about pure Tung Oil and one of our more hirsute participants recommended Corey's Tung Oil.

I really like tung oil as a finish and decided to order some tung oil and citrus solvent (limonene). Email didn't work too well, so I called to place the order, which is the preferred method for them. Corey Freedman turns out to be a very passionate guy, about skin boats and natural materials, and recommended Corey's Amazing Tung Oil for wood turned objects. This blended product contains citrus oil solvent, pure tung oil and a pine resin. Corey thinks the pine resin is a big part of the beneficial effect.

I tried the Amazing Tung Oil product and found that the resin created a 'gunky' surface, particularly troublesome if trying to sand between coats, and the finish was dull and lifeless. I contacted Corey and he swapped the Amazing Tung Oil for a quart of Limonene and a quart of the Pure Tung Oil. He suggests a 50/50 dilution for the first coat and full strength for the second.

I mixed the two ingredients 50/50 and applied to 18 crabapple bowls, and found it to be a little thinner than tung oil products I've used before, but easy to apply, soaking quickly into the wood, and very pleasant smelling. For the second coat, I tried a repeat of 50/50 on half the bowls in the trial and full strength on the other half. The full strength was a little too thick and sticky, but still quickly absorbed and producing a uniform, smudge/streak/run free finish.

After 2-3 days, the delicious odor of the limonene was gone, and there was no obvious tung oil aroma, unless I sniffed right up at the wood. I would have been tempted to say it was cured at that point, but it took about 3 weeks for the finish to be completely non-tacky and aroma free. One of my goals was to get a completed and ready to give bowl faster than with previous tung oil products, and the Corey's Tung Oil was a little but not markedly faster, but the bowls look terrific, with a warm hue and soft luster, exactly what I like with fruit wood.

One unexpected feature is that the Tung Oil comes in a little plastic bucket with a lid, like pre-mixed spackle, rather than a metal tin like most finish products. The tub is unhandy compared to a tin with a screw top. On the plus side, pure tung oil should have an indefinite shelf life, as should the limonene (citrus oil) solvent

In the future, I'm going to try 1/3 solvent/tung oil, and I'm also going to try applying additional coats to see if I can build up a glossier surface.

Overall, I like the Pure Tung Oil product and limonene, but cannot recommend the Amazing Tung Oil blend to woodturners.

Thanks for taking the time to write this great review.

 

[Zach LaPerriere]

Thanks for the review Dean. I might just be the hirsute participant... You've run into some of the same challenges and perks I have with Corey's oil.

I found the same with the sticky feel from the pine resin—I had a bunch of bowls I had to strip of finish with citrus oil. I too went 50/50 tung and citrus for a quart of tung oil...maybe 75 bowls? Just a guess.

I wanted to try going back to Corey's oil, and I'm happy having used it for almost two years. They key is to rub the oil out until completely dry to the touch. Here's what I do:

1. Finish a bowl (obviously...) and give a light coat of oil.
2. Let sit for up to an hour in a warm place.
3. With a dry cotton rag, wipe the bowl until it is completely dry to the touch. At first glance you might not even realize the oil is still wet.
4. It's good to go back later after a few hours to see if any oil has come back out of the wood. Occasionally it will, and when I've missed it and let dry, I get a little rough feel to the finish. To remedy, I've sanded lightly with synthetic steel wool, wiped with citrus oil, then sanded again lightly if necessary. After that: a second, light coat, followed by wipe down.

The same goes for second coats. I only sand between coats if the finish feels at all rough.

Another thought is to try buffing. A couple friends swear the pine resin in Corey's pre-mixed oil enhances their finish.

But back to the 50/50 mix. There is no doubt it is a safer mix in avoiding finish problems. I think the added moisture resistance merits using the premixed oil most of the time.

Finally: I'd recommend pouring an ounce or two of oil in a jar, and working from that, rather than the full quart. By the time you get to the bottom, there's a good chance it'll start gumming up with repeated exposure to air. Corey's oil polymerizes faster than anything I've ever used.