oiling spalted wood

[TomFromStLouis]

My first coat of tung oil on spalted maple looks great but the wood sucked it in like a sponge. Literally. Pour it on and its gone before the rag hits it. If I try to build up the oil as usual I could be at this for months and use up lots of oil. Should I put a coat or two of shellac in there somewhere to help the build or what? Whatever I use will get sucked in too but shortcuts to getting a consistent surface are needed.

[Roly]

My first coat of tung oil on spalted maple looks great but the wood sucked it in like a sponge. Literally. Pour it on and its gone before the rag hits it. If I try to build up the oil as usual I could be at this for months and use up lots of oil. Should I put a coat or two of shellac in there somewhere to help the build or what? Whatever I use will get sucked in too but shortcuts to getting a consistent surface are needed.

Do you have any scrap to experiment on ?  I would think it should work, but see if the results are what you want.   Roly  ( from 20 mi south of St. Louis)

[TomFromStLouis]

Well that’s always a good idea, which makes me a little worried that I did not think of it myself.

[TmanPDX]

It can take many, many coats of oil to get the penetration, but it is absolutely necessary otherwise your finish will not go on smooth, as it will get sucked in as well.

I've had success doing a french polish with shellac to seal it, then putting the finish on the shellac if you want to speed up the process. 

I had a maple burl that was spalted and it took 2-3 coats a day for a week before it stopped penetrating.

[Paul K. Murphy]

If you can get polyurethane varnish, you can use that as a thickener. You must have oil based. Look for the cleanup directions on the can. Mix the varnish right in with the oil. Do not use waterborne polyurethane.