Bought some Pure Tung Oil for my Flow that’s getting put together BUT I just read the instructions that came with the hive. It says to use Tung Oil on Western Red Cedar hives but not on the pine hive that I’ve just bought!
Will a couple of coats of Tung Oil protect the hive or not?
Kevin
Cedar is a softer, more open grain than pine, so Cedar sucks the Tung oil right in and brings out the grain. A couple of others on this forum have complained about knots in the timber of their cedar hives. All 3 of my boxes have knots and I’m happy they’re there. The Tung oil has made them stand out and they look great, but then again I do a lot of woodwork and I like interesting looking timber.
Pine is a denser timber and the Tung oil does not seep into the grain like Cedar. While it will stop the timber from drying out too much, it will need to be reapplied more often than the cedar hive. Appearance wise it doesn’t make much of a difference to the pine.
Thanks Matt. I’m still unsure about using it on the untreated pine here in Qld. It wont have full sun all day, but the sun here destroys things outdoors pretty quickly.
I want to keep the natural look of the wood so don’t want to lather house exterior paint on it. Might have to go pick the brains of the paint people at our local hardware.
Now looking at something like this:
Intergrain UltraClear Exterior is a tough, clear, water based timber finish for use on window frames, doors and trims. Incorporating UV absorbers, UltraClear Exterior provides superior protection against Australian weather conditions. Available in gloss and satin finishes, it is easy to apply, fast drying, has a low odour and unlike oil based coatings, it will not yellow.
Water based
Non-yellowing
Superior UV protection
The boxes have a great look. Whether golden pine or amber cedar they are both nice ! Gerald
