I had about 4 dozen plugs primmed and waiting for paint since last April, that go for a charity raffel I donate to each fall, I started painting them last night, I inspected them closely, none of them bled through...I primed all of these no more than 48 hours after sealing...so I'm confident that once you thin the TO a little and adjust your dry time all should be good..

Thanks, Joe.

I just spun all 25 bodies on the lathe. I got just about all the old oil off with sandpaper and I'm back to step 1 again in the finishing process.:uhuh:

I'm going to mix up another batch with the turps/tung and report back.

go mike go. luv to see the enthusiasm.

Been doing 50/50 tung and terps. Needless to say things are much improved, but I still find the drying time with any oil based sealers to be lengthy. I'm giving all my stuff 2-3 weeks before I prime, mainly on account of the end grain still being wet despite the plug body itself being dry. I also made a "custom" dryer...:laugha:

Mike I just sealed some large plugs, 3 hour soak, AYC and Pine, and I was priming 3 days later with the spar sealer. I usually don't worry about time to dry, I usually wait at least a week most times as I got plenty of stuff in various stages, but it does dry pretty fast. Not trying to dis your technique. There are many ways to seal a plug. Got to use what you like and experimenting the way you are will teach you a lot more than just going on what some person tells you. More for others just getting into this insanity to offer some alternatives. I'll bet they both offer the same end result.
I thought I was the only one who dried stuff at work.:)

I soak at home and hang at work, and then hang at home after they are semi dried after the work day, nite is over. That way they don't stink up the house.

The spar unquestionably dries much quicker than the oil. Had I just stuck with your recommendation from last spring I would still be using spar. Seeing I dropped 50 bucks on a gallon of tung, I feel guilty not using it all up. Once its gone I'm going back to the spar.

Sort of the understatement of the year I'd say.

That sucks that you cannot get the stuff to dry.. that is/was never an issue with the Tung for me....it's coming down to the cost and longevity/practicality of it for me...

One thing that all of this varnish ( includijng urethain) has in common... it is still derived from the reduction of Tung or linseed, and sometimes flax seed oils... then thinners and UV blockers are added....i guess it all boils down( as many of us have said many times) it's about what works for each individual....

FYI... if my spelling is worse today than usual.. I forgot my damn glasses today.. I lost the ones keep in my truck... so I'm screwed!

LOL. I usually don't even listen to my own recommendations. I got several cans of stuff down my cellar half full that I have given up on ,and PNG has us all beaten, Eddie too, both always experimenting.
If val oil was still easy to get I'd probably still be using that.

Hey hey hey , but true:uhuh:

I'm off to work right now so later I can band saw up some stock to start some more plugs, not finishing the many that are in various stages of completion.:confused:
That is my goal though this year to finish up stuff I have already started, really it is.:uhuh:

joe are still using the blended tung oil??

This is a great post with a ton of information. I have been using BLO, but to be honest it scares me thinking I could burn the place down. Luckily it has been farily cold and I just dry the plugs with a couple paper towls and thow them in the fire place to get rid of. That Tung oil sounds great, but expensive. I may give it a try when my current mixed BLO is gone.

still using it... have changed the mixture to a 50/50 mix with poly utrethain, thinnned with about 20% oderless minerl spirits... this combo is less prone to skinning and is less expensive.. dries quickly and never bleeds through... off season I store in 1 gallon paint cans filled to capacity and sealed with duct tape... at the start of the season the mixture is poured through a paint funel into the tubes i use to dip my plugs in... after the plugs have been "dipped and dripped" I put covers on the 3" PVC tubes I use to dip my plugs in and cap them off with a wedge shaped cover ( so I can get them out) the solution in the tubes requires stirring each time I need to use it...

Great post. So glad I have 3 gallons of val oil on the shelf.

I still use Val Oil and if it is unopened I'd gladly buy it from you.

Anyone still using Tung as their sealer?