Citrus Thinned Tung Oil: Fast-Drying Wood Finish for Indoor and Outdoor Use

Contents spilled as I poured a small amount for applying to a mahogany spindle. After initial application, I noticed it did darken the wood. But after ten hours, was dry. Now up to three coats. Looks great. Will put two more coats for total of five. All is looking good. Nice grain penetration with a matte finish. I’ll keep using this combo for some bigger bowls in the next few days. I have poured it into a stop loss bag for preservation.

I bought this to treat two white oak naginata I own and I'm really happy with how they're shaping up so far. The box came with a cute note and arrived fast as they were coincidentally located just miles away from me, I didn't realize!

Because of the citrus thinner, the oil is very runny and smells very strongly. At first I wore a mask, but found I didn't really need it at all once I figured out to work by the open window and set up a box fan blowing air from my space outside. It dries (not cures) faster and is very easy to paint. I assume it helps the oil penetrate deeper but have no real baseline nor way to observe this...

I'm new to this hobby and started on the worst wooden spoon I own before touching my weapons, so the spoon has one more coat than them and feels luxuriously soft by now. Each week after practice, I sand them, starting on a more ultra-fine grit each time, then get them the tiniest bit wet and sand again after they dry, that step really does a lot! Then I paint some of this oil on everything, do it again after several minutes, and then wipe off the extra oil that hasn't soaked in yet after several more minutes. I hang the naginata on the wall to dry with two level, distant command hooks and, just before next week's practice, quickly sand off any dust that dried on. No idea how long it takes to cure but it's definitely done before a week. Going for 5-7 coats using this weekly cycle, or until I'm over it!