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Sutherland Welles Wiping Varnish

G

Greg Kaldor

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Mar 8, 2005
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Has Anybody had any luck with this product. I bot a qt. to try. Its very costly that way but I wanted to try it first. They say that oxygen is its worst enemy because it will gel up if is exposed for any length of time. I decanted into a 8 oz. bottle of coke that I drank and cleaned out. Any input from you guys?
Greg
 
I haven't tried that wiping varnish. I read in a finishing book years ago to just add mineral spirits to regular varnish to make it a wiping varnish and have been doing that for years.
 
Hi Ron,
I do understand the concept of making a wiping varnish. However with that being said Sutherland is pure polymerized tung oil. I am wanting the molecular crosslinking of the polymerization process for two reasons. First I like the qualities of Tung oil. Second the process drastically reduces the curing.
Greg
 
Greg Kaldor said:
Hi Ron,
I do understand the concept of making a wiping varnish. However with that being said Sutherland is pure polymerized tung oil. I am wanting the molecular crosslinking of the polymerization process for two reasons. First I like the qualities of Tung oil. Second the process drastically reduces the curing.
Greg
Click to expand...

You probably confused him and others by your reference to the Wiping Varnish, a product in the Welles line which has other solids (resin) added as do other traditional oil-based varnishes. If you mean the "boiled" or gelled tung product, you should keep air away as well. Squeeze bottles are good, unless they leak, and allow air into available space. Marbles in the bottle make sure there's no room available.

With their high viscosity, gelled finishes need a bit of warmth to get beyond the surface. Application on the lathe is one method, buffing in with the piece off the lathe my preferred. You could also thin them, but it would be less effective than thinning the unprocessed oil.

If you're trying to justify the outrageous price, can't help you. Curing oils are curing oils, whether or not someone's done a bit of the work in advance by heating and starting the process.
 
Pure tung oil in its natural form takes many many days to cure even in an optimum envirement. The polymerization process changes the molecular structure of the product to allow drying in a 24 hr. time frame. This is one reason you are paying a premium price for. Another is you don't have the driers added that other products have to put in to make thier stuff dry. Gelling is the enemy. I decant into emty and cleaned out 8 oz bottles of Coke. Then as it is used I squeeze out all unwanted air and store the bottle upside down so even the smallest airspace is not at the cap. Also there is the high solids that I need for the quick build. I just want to also add discreetly that IMO curing oils are not just curing oils if they are laced with artificial driers and the like.
 
Storage Tip

Rather than decant the quart into smaller containers, try adding glass marbles to the can as you use it up. This works with any finish that will degrade with more oxygen in the can. If you can't find marbles (OK, so I lost mine a while back) then you can use some of the glass artsy cubes that you can get at the dollar stores. Kirk DeHeer of Craft Supplies gave me this tip when I took one of their classes.
I've been doing this will everything but my shellac (which I mix in small amounts and use up within a couple of weeks) and it has worked quite well.
 
Hi Larry,
That idea was also suggested to me regarding the marbles. To me a qt. can is very unfreindly to keep opening and closing and then intermittenly adding marbles to minimise airspace. The small bottle that I use is also transparent so just watching the level as you squeeze out the air and then just screwing
on the cap seems easier.
 
Sutherland Wiping Varnish

MichaelMouse said:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=20049&cat=1,190,42942

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=768

And so forth. Half the price, twice the penetration, and if you heat it in, you'll speed the chemistry almost to the point of bubbling warm air through it (called "boiling" with oils).

Of course you'd have to add the desired resin to make it into a varnish. Since you're talking "pure" oil, I assume the title of the thread is in error.
Click to expand...

Hi Michael,
I think we might be misunderstanding each other. I am saying that they use pure tung oil, however I know also that there is resins added from what I understand that is what gives the quick build. If my logic is wrong please advise me. I am thanking you for your input.
Greg
 
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