yeah actually hurricane camile in the 60's wiped out the last of the tung tree plantations. read that non wiki link it's very interesting and answers all those questions u just asked. i think im gonna try to make a press similar to a screw or fly press to try to harvest some. my tree is bout 30 ft tall and has hundreds of nuts on em currently starting to fall. the nuts are little bigger than a golf ball, and tge fruit inside you get two sides big as a big pecan.
HELP-- Where can I find 100% Tung oil?????
- Thread starter BOSS351
- Start date
The Best online firearms community in Louisiana.
Member Benefits:
Fewer Ads! Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership Discuss anti-gun legislation Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses Discover free outdoor shooting areas View up to date on firearm-related events Share photos & video with other members ...and so much more!
Member Benefits:
I was reading the waterlox link when I decided to edit my last post and thank you for the link and found you had already responded to it.....very interesting read for sure..I had no idea the tree had such a history. I guess its kinda like a pecan tree in the nut dropping time frame. I bet if you press some oil you will have a market for it down here..
I tell you what, im gonna try to build a press, i have an old acme screw and if i can find a couple nuts for it can weld up a screw press frame. You will get my first sample. How hard can it be to process this? If there are any other wood workers out there I may be able to offer some to them as well. Oh yeah and I miss my luger. If I wouldn't have bought a house last november and wouldn't have run into some hard times with bills, I would still have that awesome little piece of history.
Still regret having to part with it.
Still regret having to part with it.
Just went outside for 3 minutes and picked a wal mart bag half full. here are picks of the nut parts. the white part, 3-7 per pod are covered with a hard pecan like shell. the white part is firm and this is the fruit/meat that can be pressed. I had strted doing gun refinishing and woodwork before I bought the house and land. how cool was it that i had a tung oil tree in my yard. 2 years ago i had no idea what tung oil was.
7.62 x 39 round for reference
7.62 x 39 round for reference
I totally understand the tightness of money right now....seems like everybody I know is having a harder time these days...dont really know what the answer is either.Hopefully you will be able to get another Luger one day soon..Anyway, thats some interesting stuff there. Those nuts look pretty big and looks like they give a lot of meat for pressing. I had heard of Tung oil in the past and never gave it any thought till yesterday when I was trying to get something for this stock. You have provided me and probably other members with a good education on the Tung tree and its oil. Thanks for sharing!!!
Finally I am able to give back a little, you guy's have been a great group for teaching and entertaining. A valuable resource in the world we live in today. The knowledge I have gained from you guys cannot be measured. It blows my mind. What a great place for people in the same region with the the same interests to meet and form a brotherhood. To Bayou Shooters I give a big 
Somebody should point out here that the tung nut is poisonous. Do NOT eat any part of it. Wash your hands after handling it too. I can't speak about the processed oil, but I wash my hands after handling that too.
Back in the 60s my brother took a bite of one, and he had to be airlifted to a hospital to have his stomach pumped.
Back in the 60s my brother took a bite of one, and he had to be airlifted to a hospital to have his stomach pumped.
My pleasure. I was actually thinking about neighborhood kids who might not realize that it was poisonous, and would be tempted to pick up the nuts... Kids can do some pretty dumb things. Best wishes.
I could be wrong but I think the oil needs to be cooked anaerobicly, so it might male for a difficult setup for home batching. Polymerized tung oil oxidizes in air so you'd need to store it I'm an airtight container with some CO2 to displace the oxygen on the surface.
keep bringing the info. My google-agility has not brought the process in detail to me. But I would like to be able to see if it would be possible.
BOSS351 lookin' like a hijack in the works, sorry. glad you found some tung oil.
The hi-jackin' wouldn't have happened without you!!! This has been a very informative thread for a bunch of us and I agree with comments about our BS bruddahs! Thanks folks for all contributions and comments..Good info on NOT eating that thing....I myself wondered what it might taste like..Thanks!
The store that sells to paint to mostly professional painters on Jones Creek south of coursey had 100% tung oil a couple of years ago. You'll want to get something like napthane or Jap dryer to aid to it. Tung Oil doesn't dry at all quickly.
Dave
Dave
As far as manufacturing goes, the best thing I can say is to just buy a gallon of Waterlox and be done with it...it's one of those cry once things. Sure it's not cheap, but it does go a long way.
As for my method, first sand your wood to 220 grit. If you are going to stain go ahead, just wait 24 hours for a oil based stain, and 3-4 if using water. I begin by cutting the Waterlox 50-50 with paint thinner and applying it keeping the wood soaked over and hour to an hour and a half, pooling dry spots as they appear. Doing this will allow the oil maximum penetration and will pay off later in makking the wood grain pop (visually). After soaking wipe all oil off while still wet. After waiting take your same 50-50 cut and put a thin coat on the wood and begin lightly wet sanding with 300 grit wet/dry paper. This will form a wood/oil slurry that will fill the pores of the wood. After sanding gently wipe wipe off the excess oil WITH the grain, again do this gently as to not pull the slurry out of the pores, let fry overnight.. Repeat this process with 500, 800, 1200, etc up to the level of patience you have. At this point you are not putting some nasty plastic coating on the wood, you are polishing it. After you have gone as far as you want in the sanding process, dip a small bit of a rag (lint free) and put very light coats of oil on your wood, letting dry overnight between coats. It should almost be like smearing a drop of water on a mirror. Again, do this as many times as your patience will allow, but the more the coats the better it will look. After 2000 grit wet sanding and 10 light coats the wood grain begins to look 10 ft. deep with no candy coat type of covering. If you want to further protect it ( and improve appearance) wait two weeks and apply some furniture wax. Buff it until your arm feels like it's going to fall off, then come back the next day and do it again. Good luck.
Last edited:
Used to go camping there years ago when in the Boy Scouts...I had no idea there were Tung trees there!! I passed by there the other day and noticed its a golf course and subdivision.....sad but guess somebody sold the plantation.
Ummmm Yeah, after this thread was started I did more research. Polymerizing the tung oil is a very exact and difficult process. Not a home brew method kind of thing. However, I did run across a few articles about an interesting process called friction sealing of pure tung oil using an orbital sander. it cuts the drying time tremendously.
Probably still not worth the trouble of pressing your own but....
check out
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f8/friction-sealing-tung-oil-step-step-42996/
Tung oil can be buffed up pretty!! And, I think Doug Ashey carries it.
One bit of warning: I got a wild hair a while ago and decided to refinish an old shotgun my father-in-law gave me (not the one he used for our wedding - just sayin). It is one of those old, "hardware store" type single shot shotguns that had no value except that it was his. And, I wanted to do it nice and yet, simple.
This is just a FYI. I read this article about antique wood finishing where they used tung oil and bees wax. Looks good on paper and, I think it would be an ok finish up north but I can assure you that it's hard to dry in Louisiana (like, forever). I ended up re-stripping the stock and doing it with tung oil only!! I would counsel anyone else to do the same and stay away from the bees wax!!
Good luck with your refinish,
Marc Price
One bit of warning: I got a wild hair a while ago and decided to refinish an old shotgun my father-in-law gave me (not the one he used for our wedding - just sayin). It is one of those old, "hardware store" type single shot shotguns that had no value except that it was his. And, I wanted to do it nice and yet, simple.
This is just a FYI. I read this article about antique wood finishing where they used tung oil and bees wax. Looks good on paper and, I think it would be an ok finish up north but I can assure you that it's hard to dry in Louisiana (like, forever). I ended up re-stripping the stock and doing it with tung oil only!! I would counsel anyone else to do the same and stay away from the bees wax!!
Good luck with your refinish,
Marc Price
Last edited:
Just saw one quart on the shelf at Ace Hardware on Pontchartrain Dr., Slidell. They said it is a regular stock item, but they don't keep more than one or two on hand. The brand is Old Masters and it is 100% pure tung oil. $27.99/quart.
Perhaps an Ace closer to you could get it for you if they don't stock it.
Perhaps an Ace closer to you could get it for you if they don't stock it.
