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SwampYankee · December 18, 2010, 03:04 PM

I've done a huge amount of woodworking and a lot of research into water proofing finishes. My advice would be 3-4 coats of tung oil, followed by 3-4 coats of shellac. The problem is that most "tung oil" has mostly varnish in it. You need to find pure tung oil online. The other problem is that tung oil takes a long time to dry. You may end up with a week in between applications. Polymerized tung oil will dry much faster than nonpolymerized. Shellac is much better than polyurethane, urethane or varnish at keeping water out. I do a lot of wood turning and whenever I have a fresh piece of lumber I need to dry, I always seal it with shellac to slow the drying speed and keep it from end cracking.

December 18, 2010, 03:04 PM	#3
SwampYankee Registration in progress Join Date: November 1, 2008 Location: I can be found on a number of other forums. Posts: 1,333	I've done a huge amount of woodworking and a lot of research into water proofing finishes. My advice would be 3-4 coats of tung oil, followed by 3-4 coats of shellac. The problem is that most "tung oil" has mostly varnish in it. You need to find pure tung oil online. The other problem is that tung oil takes a long time to dry. You may end up with a week in between applications. Polymerized tung oil will dry much faster than nonpolymerized. Shellac is much better than polyurethane, urethane or varnish at keeping water out. I do a lot of wood turning and whenever I have a fresh piece of lumber I need to dry, I always seal it with shellac to slow the drying speed and keep it from end cracking.