Can I mix tung oil with a water based stain ?

K

Kevin the grey

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Aug 26, 2005
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As most of you proabably know I have a homemade water based walnut stain . Someone suggested using tung oil as a sealer . Can I mix tung oil with it as a sealer ? Can I glue onto the dried surface ? If no , can I forego the water in the walnut stain and use the tung oil as the base of the stain ?
 
Most water based stains are designed to dissolve in water and wouldn't do well in oil. Why not seal with your tung oil after staining. The fact that your stain is homemade makes the question hard to answer. None of us will have had any experience with it. I've never used tung oil as a sealer. Usually I use very thin polyurethane or varnish for that.
 
aproy1101 said:
Most water based stains are designed to dissolve in water and wouldn't do well in oil. Why not seal with your tung oil after staining. The fact that your stain is homemade makes the question hard to answer. None of us will have had any experience with it. I've never used tung oil as a sealer. Usually I use very thin polyurethane or varnish for that.
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Recipe for homemade wqalnut stain = Get a buncha walnut husks soak in hot water . Heat to reduce water content slightly and strain . ) I am sure there are better more complicated ways . I am trying to use primitive methods to approximate how primitives did it . Some would just take a juicy husk and rub it directly on wood . They are kinda spongy and so act like a natural brush or rag .

I,m pretty sure I could just soak the husks in tung oil instead of water . If I can scare up a small amount of tung oil I might just try it . It would be better in one respect as water can cause some water hungry wood shafts to warp .

I don,t know if anyone can say and someone has proabably answered in another related post . Can I glue onto a dried tung oil surface ? I realise I may seem to harp on this and some would say "just apply a modern finish" I do sometimes use a modern finish for some work . I do tend to avoid it as natural materials are more pleasing to me and the less processed something is the more valuable it is to me . It also gives me something to do with the three gallons of walnut husks I have ! L:O:L
 
Why not just try it out on a test piece of wood? This will tell you if it will work oK.
I prefer other types of oils, but just check it out first and see if it dries and works as you want it to work.
 
BruiseLeee said:
It's not for drinkin' is it? :confused: :rolleyes:
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Nope I,m a teetotaller . (If you believe that , you,ll believe aything !) Its for arrows .

Arty , what other drying oils do you refer to . I would like to experiment with a variety of oils . I just don,t have the wherewithall or the use for the oils if they don,t work out . I will experiment a bit . I do have to narrow it down first .
 
Kevin,

Well, not a great idea to try and glue onto the tung oil. The glue needs grain to seep into and grab a hold of. Applying a sealer or any stain will greatly hamper the glue's ability to do this.

What are you glueing on afterwards? Is it possible to cover the area to be glued with tape, thereby keeping it clear of oil? Then remove the tape and glue away. Make sure and do this with a kukri nearby though, just in case. :D

I would also agree that any oil and a water based stain are not going to get along. But, if you are homebrewing, it may be possible to boil it down to a thick enough liquid (so that it's mostly walnut oils) and then color the tung oil with this.

I use tung oil quite a bit and love it. I usually split it 50/50 with mineral spirits for the first coat. But this might not be what you are looking for if you're going primitive. I suppose mineral spirits are rather primitive too, in their own way.

Shellac is good too (it's bug sh*t!), but takes a little more finesse to apply and also has to be mixed with denatured alcohol.

Danish oils are also good ~ Watco is a leading brand, and they have a Dark Walnut version which is great.

Hope this helps!

~ Bamboo ~
 
This is probably dumb, but...

could you melt some tree sap...pine, say...and when it is liquid enough, add the walnut stain to it and then apply it? You'd probably have to evaporate the water out of the stain and use the powdered residue.

Might be sticky...but isn't laha made, in part, of tree pitch? It dries hard.


dunno.
 
Bamboo , while finishes can reduce adhesion , finishing/sealing the arrow is necessary to keep the arrow stable . I agree that an oil finish may be going too far . I know almost nothing about dry oil finishes . If it worked out it would help me out a lot .

Kismet , nice idea with the pine pitch . I don,t think I would get a smooth enough finish or that it would be proof enough against the temperature of a sizzling hot day .

My main idea is to have the homemade stain and a natural or at least less processed sealer/finish together so it can be applied in one step . No matter what I think it would be fun to try the tung oil .

Eventually I will be tying the feather/fletching on the arrows and so glue adhesion will be a moot point . I still have a ways to go till I am skilled enough to just tie the feathers on . It is an art in itself .
 
Kevin?

Try the pitch. get it VERY liquid. Watch for flash. Do it outside. Betcha you are surprised.

Have fun.

Turpentine is a fluid obtained by the complex distillation of resin obtained from trees, mainly various species of pine (Pinus). It is composed of terpenes, mainly the monoterpenes alpha-pinene and beta-pinene. Alternative names are wood turpentine, spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine and gum turpentine. It is also known colloquially as just turps, although this more often refers to turpentine substitute (or mineral turpentine). Boiling in large tubs takes place at 155 degrees Celsius to obtain turpentine oil.
 
Astrodada said:
Do the Japanese finish the arrows with laquer ?
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Yep I,m pretty sure some of their higher quality bamboo arrows are laquer finished . They can also command 1200 buckeroos a dozen and more .

Laquer is an option . I still come back to the "will it mix with a water based stain ?" Or Can I use the laquer as a base to make the stain ?
 
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