Mallet Finish

[T Dan]

Two easy questions with potential one word answers:

I have a new beech wood mallet that will benefit from an oil finish.  A web search finds many references to using Boiled Linseed Oil for mallets with BLO sounding like a perfectly reasonable choice, so naturally I don't have any BLO in the garage.  However, I do have a can of Tung oil.   Would it be a mistake if I used the this instead?  Might the Tung Oil actually be a better choice?

[wdwerker]

It should be fine to use it. 

[T Dan]

Thanks Steve.  There's a lot I don't know about woodworking, but I one lesson that's finally starting to sink in is generally better to ask "before" I try something.  :-)

[wdwerker]

Your quite welcome. Either ask questions or practice on scrap. 

[RichardA]

Use any oil base you have. Down the road, you may want to re-oil. I use Danish oil on any mallets I have or make for others or for sale.

[lewisc]

When I made my carvers mallet, I used some cabinet makers wax while it was turning on the lathe. 

[T Dan]

Thanks for the replies.  Going to apply the tung oil and see how it goes.  Sounds like the proper approach is to raise the grain a bit with damp cloth, sand, add coat of oil, and dry.  Repeat last three steps a few times. Have a feeling this is more for fine furniture than a mallet, but may as well learn on something that will eventually take a beating anyway.