Since oil based varnish is tung oil and resins you shouldn't see much of a
color change from what you are used too seeing.

It's always best to check on some scrap first though.

As for the "look", oil is not a finish that builds. After three or four
coats applied as directed you should have a soft warm looking finish

You may want to consider using a Danish oil. Pretty much the same look and
application as the tung oil but with some varnish type resins that will give
you somewhat more protection.

Again, oil finishes are not finishes that are meant to build. They provide
minimum protection but, on the other hand, can be easily rejuvenated with
the application of more oil.
--
Mike G.
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Mitch Abaza" wrote in message
...
I'm looking for advice on how to finish a bench I've just completed. It
is
made using Birch 3/4" plywood and a face frame (made of cherry for
contrast). Usually, I just slap on 3 coats of a satin oil-based
polyurethane and call it a day. I want to try something different for
this
project so I'm thinking Tung Oil perhaps? I've never worked with anything
other than a poly, so don't know what effect TO will have on the look of
the
wood. I've read this article,
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00060.asp , which is
informative but didn't help me decide if TO is the what I want.

Thoughts?