Help With Tung Oil

Are you talking about pure tung oil, or one of the products commonly found in stores that are really a combination of tung oil and varnish?

Either way, I don’t think it would hurt the turquoise. But I would recommend wiping it off the turquoise as much as possible, just because it might not want to dry well and would either be sticky or oily.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

ditto with charlie ,
do your thing with the oil,
then clean of the turquoise .
it will not soak in like the wood .
just wait till you are done with the oil.
mabe some mineral spirits if necessary .

-- david ,new mexico ,allheart

We are going to use Polymerized Tung Oil.

Thanks for the info, it helps a lot

-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust

I’m with the others and I would use a tung oil product, not straight tung oil. The blends handle best.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

p.s. what kind of epoxy do you use for the inlays ,
i have done many , and with tuquios to ,
but have to stand around with a spray bottle of laquer thiner for a couple of hours ,
to burst the heat bubbles .
and i always spray poly in the area first , as i tint my epoxy with colors , and it will bleed into the grain ?

your work is stunning , you make a great team !

thanks .

-- david ,new mexico ,allheart

Candy-I use tung oil and alot of other oil mixes etc. on my pieces with turquiose and my carved bowls which almost all have inlay in them .I have never had any problems with it effecting tghe inlay at all.Now I have never used it on man made turquiose just the real stones.

-- Scott NM,http://www.shangrilawoodworks.com

Hi Patron, we do not use epoxy, we use CA glue which is like a super super glue. we do not have to worry about bubbling and all that, we do however have to watch that is does not run everywhere. They glue will stain the wood so we use a sealer before we start the inlay process.

Hello Scott

Thanks for the input. We use the real stuff as well; so it is okay then to apply the oil over the inlay and I guess if neccessary we can rub off or buff up the turquoise with a cloth….

-- Tim & Candy Hicks Custom Log Furniture www.rockymountain-twist.com Dust... What Dust

Hi Candy,
Maybe this is of interest. Under the paragraph ‘Waxing and Oiling’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turquoise

-- Fred

I’m a little late to this topic but as a silversmith I work with Turquoise quite a bit.
Natural turquoise, which is straight from the ground without any processing, is quite porous and will absorb oils. The old Indian traders would soak low grade Turquoise in various oils to enhance the color of the stones. Natural Turquoise only makes up about 1 percent of all Turquoise sold today, most of it is “Stabilized”(to strengthen the stone) or “Enhanced”(to “liven” the color) by chemical means. Most of this “treated” turquoise will still absorb some oils but not as readily as natural turquoise will. Most Turquoise these days come from China so you really never know what you are getting, unless you buy from a reputable dealer. But for inlay work it really doesn’t matter so much.

It is great when I get to do repairs on old Turquoise jewelry and get to see how much the stone’s color has changed from where it has been in contact with the owners skin and the affects of years and years of body oils on it. Definitely gives it a great patina.

-You can always cover the inlay first with a coat of dewaxed shellac for protection before you use any oils. It’s a great natural sealer for nearly anything.

-- Robert Reznik - Albuquerque, NM - www.robertreznik.com