Cherry, Lye, and Tung Oil

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I colored a cherry case of drawers with lye. Overall I am pleased with the result although controling the color will take some practice.

Over the lye, I have used pure Tung Oil reduced to 1/2 with mineral speirits. I understood from Flexner that a number of coats are necessarry before getting a reasonable build. I have applied 10 coats using steel wool. All with at least 24 hours between coats. A couple of problems are showing up.

1. the finsih seems to be somewhat opaque. It does not have the clarity I was expecting
2. I wipe off the finish thoroughly, sometimes over more than a day; but if left for a few days it develops a bit of tackiness. This is removed with the next coat.

The question is, can I get more depth from the finish? Perhaps by

- rubbing out with pumice?
- final coat of wax?
- Adding varish to the mix?

I should mention that this work is being done in a basement where temps are probably around 60

Thanks for the help
Sal
 
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