China Oil finish problems

Hi all,

I have just completed a entertainment unit which I finished with 3 coats of Feast Watsons china oil. After the final coat I gave it a light sand with wet'n'dry paper and it was very smooth. A fortnight later however the surface of the timber has come up slightly rough.

I tried giving a small section a light sanding with wet'n'dry to see if that would help, but a week later the surface was slightly rough again. Another section I applied Organoil wax to, but it too was rough a week later. The wood is American Cherry veneer.

If anyone has any advice on how to get a nice smooth finish it would be greatly appreciated. Is the answer to apply a couple of coat of laquer over the top?

Thanks,
Justin.

Anyone?

Have you contacted the Technical People at Feast Watson?

G'day.

Struth Justin, looks like you are the Feast Watson's china oil 'expert' around here.
Maybe that should be the Feast Watson's china oil 'guinea pig'.

What's china oil? :confused:
My dad reckons that if you leave the billy on the fire boiling after you have chucked the tea in it 'burns the chinee oil in'

Is it an oil that's mean to set?

Most setting oils take a while (up to a month) to set as hard as they are going to get.

This subject is starting to sound familiar now....
I think we covered it a couple of weeks ago.
Do a search on 'oil finishes' in the last month.

Thanks Tom and Cliff. I didn't think of contating Feast Watsons, but I might just do that.

China Oil contains pure tung oil. As far as I know it is supposed to set. I used it because I liked the way it slightly darkened the american cherry.

I did a bit of a search like you suggested and found a few oil finish tips that I may try. I will give a small section a light sand, apply a light coat of oil and then shine a desk lamp on it so that it sets fairly rapidly.

China oil is the other name for tung oil, a product of the tung nut, originally from China but now grown all around the world. I beleive that there are large plantations in california and brazil.The feast and Watson product will not be pure tung oil however. It will be a mixture of a base with some tung oil, linseed and other proprietary compounds.