Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Tung Oil?

38 views
Skip to first unread message

Casper

unread,
Aug 23, 2016, 7:06:14 PM8/23/16
to

hub...@ccanoemail.ca

unread,
Aug 23, 2016, 9:05:00 PM8/23/16
to
On Tue, 23 Aug 2016 19:06:17 -0400, Casper <cas...@ghostmail.cc>
wrote:
Not familiar with that brand - certainly cheaper than Lee Valley's.
Some good general info can be found in the links on this page :
click on the "Tech" and " Instr" links.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=20049&cat=1,190,42942
John T.

Electric Comet

unread,
Aug 23, 2016, 9:09:03 PM8/23/16
to
On Tue, 23 Aug 2016 19:06:17 -0400
Casper <cas...@ghostmail.cc> wrote:

> Anyone familiar with this Tung Oil?

having used tung oil it is definitely important to get the pure oil

but make sure you really want that kind of finish

i used it on one project but i will limit future use to ornamental
stuff instead of daily use stuff









hub...@ccanoemail.ca

unread,
Aug 23, 2016, 10:35:14 PM8/23/16
to

>> Anyone familiar with this Tung Oil?

>
>having used tung oil it is definitely important to get the pure oil
>but make sure you really want that kind of finish
>i used it on one project but i will limit future use to ornamental
>stuff instead of daily use stuff
>
>

What makes you say that ?
How do you test / grade tung oil - for purity ?
Daily use vs ornamental ? Huh ?
I don't mean to start a war - but tung oil is a
capable finish - polymerized tung oil for non-food items.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=20050&cat=1,190,42942

John T.

krw

unread,
Aug 23, 2016, 10:52:18 PM8/23/16
to
On Tue, 23 Aug 2016 22:36:14 -0400, hub...@ccanoemail.ca wrote:

>
>>> Anyone familiar with this Tung Oil?
>
>>
>>having used tung oil it is definitely important to get the pure oil
>>but make sure you really want that kind of finish
>>i used it on one project but i will limit future use to ornamental
>>stuff instead of daily use stuff
>>
>>
>
> What makes you say that ?
> How do you test / grade tung oil - for purity ?

probably tastes it

graham

unread,
Aug 23, 2016, 10:53:31 PM8/23/16
to
It's non-toxic once it has cured, which takes a while, but in its liquid
state is, IIRC, a strong emetic.

Casper

unread,
Aug 24, 2016, 9:08:52 AM8/24/16
to
Electric Comet <electri...@mail.invalid> was heard to mutter:

>having used tung oil it is definitely important to get the pure oil
>
>but make sure you really want that kind of finish
>
>i used it on one project but i will limit future use to ornamental
>stuff instead of daily use stuff

Only ornamental?

My understanding of Tung oil is that it is quite a good finish for any
use if done properly. Is that not true? I've seen quite a few things
with it as a finish that have held up well over time.

I recently made the rounds through Woodcraft, Rockler, etc., in my
area and no one had pure Tung oil. In WC's favor, they are moving so
it may be they have not restocked until after the move. Only thing I
could find are the mixed tung finishes, like Formbys.

Sonny

unread,
Aug 24, 2016, 9:49:55 AM8/24/16
to
If you'd like some pure tung oil, I can send you some tung "nuts". I have two trees and the fruit will be ripe, soon.... maybe now.

The trees are small (maybe 15' tall), ornamental-like, with large (plate size) dark green leaves. The fruit are a little smaller than walnuts and inside the hull (again, similar to a walnut's green hull) there are 6 lobes of the pithy fruit (seeds). The pith has the texture/hardness of styrofoam and is fibrous, felt-like, which contains the oil. I've never tried to squeeze out any oil to use, just the trees look nice, as lawn-type decor/plantings.

Seems, it would take lots of fruit (5 gallon bucket) to get any significant amount (a pint, maybe?) of oil. I've never squeezed a quantity of fruit, to see what volume of oil is produced.

Each of the 6 lobes, in each fruit, is a seed. Seems, each seed will sprout readily, hence easy to grow... at least here in south Louisiana. Each seed needs to dry, before planting. A green (oil filled) seed won't sprout. As a whole fruit dries, it splits open, revealing the 6 drying/dried lobes/seeds. The lobes/seeds are like wedges of an orange (sliced sphere), that wedge shape.

The fruit is not edible, as some folks ask me about, as they don't recognize the tree specie. They see the fruit, hanging on the tree, and think/wonder if it may be edible, and ask. It certainly looks like it might be an edible fruit.

Sonny

Electric Comet

unread,
Aug 24, 2016, 12:25:37 PM8/24/16
to
On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 09:08:55 -0400
Casper <cas...@ghostmail.cc> wrote:

> Only ornamental?

yeah something that is not handled or comes in contact with anything


> My understanding of Tung oil is that it is quite a good finish for any
> use if done properly. Is that not true? I've seen quite a few things

but everyone likes different things
i like using modern synthetic finishes for ease of application and
low maintenance

tung finish has a unique look and it is nice but needs long cure time
and sometimes needs a reapplication


> I recently made the rounds through Woodcraft, Rockler, etc., in my

got mine on ebay or amazon

i think

has been awhile










hub...@ccanoemail.ca

unread,
Aug 24, 2016, 5:17:16 PM8/24/16
to
< snips >
>
>If you'd like some pure tung oil, I can send you some tung "nuts".
> I have two trees and the fruit will be ripe, soon.... maybe now.
>The trees are small (maybe 15' tall), ornamental-like, with large (plate size) dark green leaves.
>The fruit are a little smaller than walnuts and inside the hull (again, similar to a walnut's green hull)
>there are 6 lobes of the pithy fruit (seeds). The pith has the texture/hardness of styrofoam
> and is fibrous, felt-like, which contains the oil. I've never tried to squeeze out any oil to use,
> just the trees look nice, as lawn-type decor/plantings.
>Seems, it would take lots of fruit (5 gallon bucket) to get any significant amount (a pint, maybe?) of oil.
> I've never squeezed a quantity of fruit, to see what volume of oil is produced.
>Each of the 6 lobes, in each fruit, is a seed. Seems, each seed will sprout readily, hence easy to grow...
>at least here in south Louisiana. Each seed needs to dry, before planting. A green (oil filled) seed won't sprout.
> As a whole fruit dries, it splits open, revealing the 6 drying/dried lobes/seeds.
> The lobes/seeds are like wedges of an orange (sliced sphere), that wedge shape.
>The fruit is not edible, as some folks ask me about, as they don't recognize the tree specie.
>They see the fruit, hanging on the tree, and think/wonder if it may be edible, and ask.
> It certainly looks like it might be an edible fruit.
>Sonny


Thanks for the info, Sonny.
Seems like it might be a bit of a messy curiosity ?
as a yard tree ? yes / no ?
I have a young horse-chestnut tree - that my neighbour just noticed -
he's not impressed - useless messy things ..
John T.


Sonny

unread,
Aug 24, 2016, 5:55:30 PM8/24/16
to
On Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 4:17:16 PM UTC-5, hub.. wrote:

> Seems like it might be a bit of a messy curiosity ?
> as a yard tree ? yes / no ?
> I have a young horse-chestnut tree - that my neighbour just noticed -
> he's not impressed - useless messy things ..
> John T.

No, it's not a messy tree, at all. When the leaves drop, they deteriorate fast, so there's no build up of leaves. I'll take some pics. In the meantime, here's the flower.... about 2" in diameter. It's a pretty flower and very showy and noticeable, when the tree is in full bloom.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/8617967464/in/photostream

I easily rake the fruit, but often one or two are missed, so I mow over those. When hit with the lawn mower, the oil-filled fruit shatter easily.... About like hitting a pine cone, I suppose. When the fruit are dry, there's a fairly hard clunk to the mower-hit, but not anything like hitting a walnut. Later on, when the 6 seeds separate from the pod and are dry, each individual will shatter into little fibrous clumps, no damage to the mower. The individual dry seeds are about the size of your thumb, about the size of a medium size pecan.

My trees produce maybe 50-60 fruit each year, about 10 gallons total, so there's not many to deal with.

Sonny

G. Ross

unread,
Aug 24, 2016, 7:22:57 PM8/24/16
to
I remember when there was a tung tree plantation here in S. Georgia.
Never knew what happened to the trees but they are there no more.

--
GW Ross

Question Authority -- and the
authorities will question you.






Leon

unread,
Aug 24, 2016, 7:55:50 PM8/24/16
to
On 8/24/2016 6:22 PM, G. Ross wrote:
> Sonny wrote:
Snip


>>
>> My trees produce maybe 50-60 fruit each year, about 10 gallons total,
>> so there's not many to deal with.
>>
>> Sonny
>>
> I remember when there was a tung tree plantation here in S. Georgia.
> Never knew what happened to the trees but they are there no more.
>


The cats got the tung. ;)

hub...@ccanoemail.ca

unread,
Aug 25, 2016, 9:48:56 AM8/25/16
to


>>
>I remember when there was a tung tree plantation here in S. Georgia.
>Never knew what happened to the trees but they are there no more.


2013 article here :

http://www.foresthistory.org/publications/FHT/FHTSpringFall2013/TungOil.pdf

also - on the third page - an old photo of the longleaf yellow pine
forests, pre-logging.
Is this the "southern yellow pine" that is mentioned here sometimes
?
John T.

Sonny

unread,
Aug 25, 2016, 10:49:15 AM8/25/16
to
On Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 8:48:56 AM UTC-5, hub...wrote:

> 2013 article here :
>
http://www.foresthistory.org/publications/FHT/FHTSpringFall2013/TungOil.pdf
>
> also - on the third page - an old photo of the longleaf yellow pine
> forests, pre-logging.
> Is this the "southern yellow pine" that is mentioned here sometimes
> ?
> John T.

Yes, but there are several species of pine that fall in the category of SYP. The longleaf is a premium pine.... tight grained, great for flooring and the like. Most LLP were harvested, so there aren't many left, that's why salvaged LLP is very desireable.

Additionally, here's some Tung tree pics. One fruit, on the tree, is still green hulled and another is starting to turn brown. On the seed pics, one seed has the hull peeled off, after separating from the other 5 from the fruit pod. The trees are in front of my woodwhop. I recently trimmed some lower branches. You can see the tree trunks aren't very big.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/?

Sonny

hub...@ccanoemail.ca

unread,
Aug 25, 2016, 11:09:53 AM8/25/16
to
Thanks for the info & pics.
The tree trunks do look small for the size of the foliage.
John T.

Doug Miller

unread,
Aug 25, 2016, 1:12:04 PM8/25/16
to
hub...@ccanoemail.ca wrote in news:e33srbp173poplsb1...@4ax.com:

> I have a young horse-chestnut tree - that my neighbour just noticed -
> he's not impressed - useless messy things ..

I beg to differ. Horse chestnut trees are *not* useless at all. Cut, split, and dried, they make
*outstanding* firewood.

dadiOH

unread,
Aug 25, 2016, 2:39:12 PM8/25/16
to

<hub...@ccanoemail.ca> wrote in message
news:bhttrblji880qko7n...@4ax.com...
SYP is a group of pines including slash, long and shortleaf and loblolly.


0 new messages