Raw Tung oil

[ozzycat]

Hi all,
Does anyone know where to purchase raw tung oil??
Thanks Cath.

[Suresh]

Hi,
I love the way tung oil looks and it has a great protective coating. I have been using Sceney’s tung oil, it is as raw and pure as it comes.
I buy it from the manufacturer, however Sceney products are carried by quite a few paint stores and Bunnings. If they carry other products they can probably get it in for you. The price locally is around $15 a litre.
I use either straight or mixed with the Sceney finishing oil, the terabine in the finishing oil makes the tung oil go off quite quickly. The other way to get it to crosslink quickly is to place it in direct sunlight, works for smaller pieces.
Suresh

[Phil Jennings]

Hi Suresh,
are all tung oils equal? At the Wood Show the Liberon stand was selling tung oil for > $100 per litre. I didn't buy any! Are they ripping people off?
Phil

[ubeaut]

G'day Phil - No they're not all equal some are of a better quality some are watered down and some....... well.

$100 a litre is a hell of a price to pay. But it is coming in from England and they do have to make a profit. However I'll bet they wouldn't sell too much of it in the UK at the going rate of £37.50. 'twould have to be selling over there for around £5 - £6.

So I guess the answer is yes, but no.

The best idea is buy the local product. It may not be packaged as nicely nor have as well known a name or even be by appointment to a Queen (well maybe the gay guys with the queer eyes :eek but the quality is usually equal to and often much better than the imported stuff.

I don't use it much but have been experimenting with it off and on for a few years and in my experience the thinner it is in the container the crappier it is on the work. The good pure stuff is usually dark in colour and about the consistency of warm honey.

By the way $15.00 a litre is a pretty reasonable retail price. The last time I looked the good pure stuff cost a little less than $800 for a 200 litre drum. When you add the cost of packaging, labelling etc, etc, etc, then the shopkeep's margin the $15 is pretty good. However it does make the $100 looks pretty sick (and I don't mean sick in the good way).

Hope this is of some help to you.

Cheers - Neil

[Chesand]

I was in a Paint Mart store yesterday and saw Pure Tung Oil on the shelf but do not know the price or quality

[Phil Jennings]

Hi Neil,
many thanks for the reply. I have tried the Liberon tung oil before and it was pretty good but the price was not an inducement to buy more. Looks like I'm off to get some Sceneys!
Cheers
Phil

[Suresh]

Sorry about the delay in replying Phil. The Sceney oil is as thick as honey and dark. I also looked at the Liberon oil and was scared off by the price.
I looked into what they do to make their oil different from the pure oil.
Essentially they remove some waxes and then heat the oil in an oxygen free container. This breaks or activates the three double bonds in the oil allowing it bind rapidly with the wood fibres. However if you use Terabine or leave the work in sunlight for a couple of hours the same thing occurs.
I don’t use terabine much as it contains metal salts and in anycase sunlight works fine for me. I hope this helps.
Suresh

[Phil Jennings]

Thanks Suresh.
I followed Liberon instructions and diluted 50% with white spirit for the first 3 coats on what I think is spotted gum. Final coat undiluted. Beautiful. No need to put in sun or anything. But sunlight sounds good at Sceneys price.
Cheerio
Phil

[hexbaz]

$100 a litre is a hell of a price to pay. But it is coming in from England and they do have to make a profit. However I'll bet they wouldn't sell too much of it in the UK at the going rate of £37.50. 'twould have to be selling over there for around £5 - £6.

Liberon Tung oil sells here (UK) for £13.90 a litre (retail, including tax).

You can buy (not Liberon) Tung oil in 'bulk' (US Gallons) from USA at this site (they do ship worldwide): www.realmilkpaint.com