Does Tassie Oak absorb Tung Oil?

Applied 2 coats of Feast Watson Tung Oil to Tasmanian Oak last Friday and Saturday, 24 hrs apart after sanding initially to 240grit, and wiping away excess oil after 30 minutes. Temperature 32 degC and 70% humidity.


Now Tues, and the timber is still quite oily, despite wiping away the oil each morning with a paper towel. The timber leaves an oily film on your hand when touching it.


Anyone come across this before ? Wondering if it will eventually soak in, or if quartersawn Tassie Oak does not absorb this oil. The oil is quite thin, almost watery, and was not thinned when applying.


Hope someone can suggest what causes the problem, and the way forward.

Have you tried contacting their help/ assistance/ technical department. I have found them very helpful in the past.
Best of luck for a solution

Whilst I can’t answer your question directly, I coated my Tasmanian oak bench with a 50/50 mix of BLO/turps. It took over a month for it to no longer leave a film on my hands despite regular wiping downs.

I too would be interested to hear if Tasmanian oak is different in this regard.

Speaking with Old Croc today, he tells me that Tassie Oak is quite oily like many Eucalypts and difficult to glue without cleaning the joint area first with a suitable solvent.

Tried the FW help desk first, dinosour, after good experience with them in the past too. One told me it would take a couple of weeks to cure, another said Tassie Oak may not absorb their Tung Oil, but no one could give me a definite answer as to why this problem was occurring

Its not tung oil, but I use and swear by Kunos Livos. I use it all the time on Tas Oak.

The finish is fast to dry, non oily and is absolutely sublime.


(I think KL has tung in it?)

Hi WoodPixel, I am a great believer and user of Livos Kunos too. I think its main component is linseed oil..
But this Tung stuff is for a set of drawers that a friend asked me to make, and she definitley wanted this FW Tung Oil as she has used it with some success in the past. Even though I told her the virtues of Kunos.

From memory, Livos has linseed oil in it - don't know if it has Tung oil, but in total agreement that it is a great finish.

Damn, posting clash. I have also used Tung Oil and in blackwood, it continues to bleed out for a month.
Haven't tried it in Tassie Oak

Feast Watson Tung Oil is not pure Tung Oil, it's a formulation including some tung. It was previously called China Oil.

I used China Oil early quite a few years ago for finishing some cheap mahogany cabinets and it took quite a while to cure. I also made the mistake of oiling the inside of the drawers as well. They took even longer to dry and I was somewhat concerned the oil was taking so long to dry it would go rancid. The next cabinets I made I used Organoil Danish oil and I believe that cured faster, but still at least two weeks to feel it was dry enough to wax.

I've recently made some shelves out of Jacaranda and used the dregs of the old China Oil as finish. It took a long time to cure, I'd say something like 4 weeks to stop feeling 'oily'. I found power buffing with a Swansdon mop helpful.

On the positive side the cured finish is very hardy, water and alcohol resistant.

The drying oils, linseed and Tung, need time to oxidise and harden. The label on the Kunos bottle says "fully hardened in 4 weeks", they are honest! You will get better results by leaving a long time between coats ( I leave at least a week, I'd go longer with tassie oak). Adding more coats too quickly slows the oxidation of the first coat. Wiping does not aid oxidation it just removes the excess oil which would otherwise go rubbery as it dries (oxidises). You can get a brilliant finish if you are patient. Good idea to experiment with scrap wood.