Thread: Tung Oil Finish
View Single Post
 
Old 03-11-2017, 05:08 AM
BUFF BUFF is offline
SWCA Member
Absent Comrade
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: SLC, Utah
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 739
Liked 3,275 Times in 1,282 Posts
Default

Trivia minute: Tung oil is also called (or used to be called) China Nut oil. It was used to finish the wood stocks of America's rifles and carbines in WWII. There were huge groves of the trees that grow the nuts and they were classified as "Strategic War Production Material" and were fenced in and protected.

The oil obtained went into large tanks that were heated and a mechanical conveyor system dunked the Garand and Springfield stocks and handguards in one end of the tank, pulled them submerged to the other end of the tank and then the stocks were hung up to dry.

My favorite sergeant made fine hardwood furniture with tung oil finishes on some as a hobby. Work in enough coat/dry/sand/recoat cycles and you can get an almost glass-like finish that is quite hard ad fills all the wood's pores.
Reply With Quote
The Following 3 Users Like Post: