Tung oil

[jpow]

We have an old table that looks to have a piece of mahogany ply on top. It's nothing special. I'd like to clean it up. Sanded the top. My wife liked how tung oil has worked elsewhere. Should I put a wash of shellac down and several coats of tung oil. Or am I over engineering.

[JR1]

If you are talking faux Tung Oil (e.g. Watco) which has no tung oil in it and is basically a oil/varnish finish then wash coat of shellac will help adhesion but you could get the same protection and better appearance with just shellac. If you are looking at real Tung oil and you are down to bare wood then the Tung oil should go on before the shellac for the best results. But real oils do not provide much if any protection to the wood without topcoating.

Oil varnish finishes are: quick, easy, fast, and look pretty good though.