On Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:57:37 -0600, "Douglas R. Hortvet, Jr."
wrote:

All,

Had planned to use a tung oil finish on red oak to be used as a model display stand -
indoor use only, and after reading the many posts on the use of this product - and those
called tung oil finishes, not confident this is the best way to go.

Desired end result is a low lustre, rich finish that can be completed in a reasonably
brief period of time.

From my limited understanding, a poly finish is not preferred.

The wood has been stained using Minwax's wood finish product.

I have a can of Bartley's gel varnish - although will likely have to destroy the can's lid
to get it off.

Any and all recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Doug

First, be aware that most "Tung Oil" finishes don't use tung oil, or
have so little tung oil in them that part is irrelevant. Your product
could be a wiping varnish, an oil finish, or an oil/varnish blend.

Second, the open pores of oak, as others have mentioned, will leak the
oil back until that oil has fully cured.

There is no one "best way" to finish. There are tradeoffs in terms of
time and effort. For my taste, using an oil or oil/varnish finish is
about as easy as it gets. But it doesn't look as good after a period
of time, and you may find you want to reapply the oil now and again.

So, my preference is to apply a topcoat, often after using an oil or
sometimes a stain. I use stain less often than many will, but usually
I want something to bring out the grain.

If you want a very smooth surface, you can flood the suface with your
chosen oil finish and wet sand it with some 400 grit wet/dry
sandpaper. The dust/oil slurry will fill the pores. And should take
care of the "leak back" problem. Here's a write up someone did on that
approach:
http://www.masterartisan.com/article...oth+Oil+Finish

You can get a low lustre on a poly surface, or any other topcoat,
including your gel varnish (if formulated to be a "gloss" finish), by
"rubbing out" after the finish has cured, using a grey scotchbrite
type pad or wet/dry sandpaper.
http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/rubbingout.htm.

Jim