Oils in general work to enhance the natural beauty and contrast of the wood. They go on easy and can be replenished over time as long as they aren’t topped with some type of film finish, which is certainly an option. Nothing pops a figure quite like an oil, nor makes the wood really pretty. They are an easy alternative to stains, which are mostly just thinned paint.
If you use uninteresting wood in your projects, like pine or poplar, then you’d likely use stains (or dyes). But if you use really pretty hardwoods with awesome figure, then oils will be a big part of your gameplan.
Real tung oil (as opposed to tung oil finish) takes forever to dry, but doesn’t yellow the wood quite like other oils and it is more water resistant. It is often used on metal to prevent rust.
-- jay, www.allaboutastro.com
