I’ve looked in my locla hardware store, my local Sears, loes, and home depot. People either don’t know what tung (or mineral) oil is, or they don’t carry it.
Where do you guys suggest I look?
P.S: I’m looking to preserve wood and keep it from drying out and becoming brittle so I need the oil to penetrate, how does tung oil compare to mineral oil in that department, and are there any other safety issues involved (I know tung oil should be used in a well ventilated area).
Look up hardwood in your yellowpages. Any decent woodworking store should carry Tung oil. Here’s a nice link giving a comparison of the various drying oils. It’s geared toward Bamboo, but has a nice discussion of how the different oils stack up for general finishing purposes.
As other people said, almost every hardware store in the nation should carry it. One brand is Formsbys. Like most “tung” oils, it’s probably about 1% actual tung oil and 99% varnish. (You probably don’t want pure tung oil because it doesn’t cure as fast or as hard as a varnish.) Unless you are using this for a “food safe” application like a cutting board, any of the varnish/rubbing finishes (e.g. Formsbys, Watco, etc…) should do fine. Mineral oil will do for food safe applications, as well any oil that doesn’t go rancid quickly – walnut oil will work, for example. If you need a really water resistant finish (e.g. a table top), then you want to stay away from oil finishes and go to something like a polyurethane.
If you want pure Tung Oil without varnishes or thinners, I would suggest ordering it here. About $14.00 a pint.
It’s used quite frequently by luthiers and instrument techs, particularly to finish the back of guitar necks without using a synthetic or sealant. Wonderful stuff. I regularly strip finishes off the necks of new guitars and apply tung oil - it feels much smoother and protects the wood better.