After drying for some time, I'd like to polish the finish to a decent shine. I used wet-sanding with tru-oil as a grain filler on the bass in my avatar. This is the first time I'm working with Alder, and first time with Tru oil. It cure before putting the guitar together? Should I wax over the Tru Oil.
Due to the penetrating qualities of Tru Oil I would think grain filling could present some problems. I think a nice mahogany body with some grain exposed looks and feels great anyways.Regarding Tru Oil - it does cure to a very hard finish. Much, much more than a typical tung oil treatment. It has catalyzed polymers in it that are fairly heavy duty. Remember, it was designed for duck hunters to put on the stocks of their shotguns to protect the wood from getting water damage. It's very tough stuff.
And I disagree that it will make your guitar look as if it came from a gun shop. You might want to check some posts over on the Reranch forum. Some members have done simply fantastic finishes using Tru Oil. It is a pro-quality option to consider.
I did my daughter's Tele neck using it. It came out awesome, plus it feels like a neck that's been played for years -Smooooth.One other note - with Tru Oil vs.
Laquer there is a HUGE gap in cure time (oil is much quicker) and you wont have to wetsand the Tru Oil finish after you are done. Instead you lightly buff out each coat with 0000 steel wool (better run a magnet over the body before the next coat though - lots of shavings otherwise).Good luck! If you're interested in grain filling, Tru-Oil can be used to do it. You simply wet sand with Tru-Oil.
It will create a slurry that acts as a grain filler. The best part is it's actually the wood itself that's acting as the filler so you don't have to worry about color mismatches.As the Tru-Oil will dry as you sand you need to do small sections at a time but it will do an outstanding job if you take your time and are patient.As Quarter noted, it can be buffed to a mirror finish with a little effort. I've used it on a bunch of necks and will probably never go back to lacquer for a neck finish now. Click to expand.Grain fill? Absolutely, both kinds of wood, both kinds of finish.I recommend, for walnut and mahogany a blend of 2 Bartley's fillers, one part 'light' to 8 parts 'natural'. The light isn't light at all; just a little bit will give the natural the right color for walnut or mahogany.I've tried the Tru-Oil (polymerized linseed oil based) and the modified Tung Oil finishes; they're over-rated in my opinion.
I like the result I get with just a little (or a fair bit) of clear lacquer over these woods. Lay a couple coats of clear dewaxed shellac on first, if you want plenty of age yellowing, as there's nothing in the shellac to prevent it from yellowing. Most lacquers are reformulated to resist yellowing or ambering.Oh, this 'the sawdust combines with the oil and fills the pores in the finish'.
The main advantage of oil finishes is, they're better for your lungs and your nervous system. Don't sand between coats of Tru-Oil.Don't use #0000 either.Follow the directions on the bottle. It says to use #00 steel wool, and very light coats.For once, following the manufacturers directions actually get you the nicest finish possible.I applied it by using my fingertips (while wearing surgical gloves: the stuff is a bear to get off your fingers otherwise). That way there's no lint or steel wool shavings to get out of the finish. Running a magnet over the body after the last wipe-down between coats will catch any stray steel wool shavings.Lacquer if you want to, but Tru-Oil feels great, looks great, is easy to apply, and about 1/10th the cost of lacquer.
And both have some great examples of what Tru-Oil can do.BTW: lacquer buffed out in 2 days??? I've seen nitro that's still soft months later. Click to expand.I hear ya.Personally I'm not looking for great. I'm looking for cheap, quick, easy and functional.
The only tools needed for basic oil finishing are your hands and a rag. Ernie ball uses 1 coat of tru oil for necks and lots of folks use 3-4 coats for the body with durable results. Mirror finish isn't a necessity. In fact satin is preferable for me. For those of us without the tools, space, time or skills to do a REAL finish tru-oil is an amazing option.No spray gunsNo ventilation issuesNo maskingMinimal sandingI'm using this on alder so no filler necessary either although I've recently seen some oiled unfilled mahogany bodies that look quite nice. I used Tung Oil to refin a partscaster that I stripped down. I loved the look and feel (I guess the body was grain filled in the past of course).
Sure it would take a LONG TIME to get a thicker, mirror finish like some of these we see. But I noticed that one coat the first 24 hours, then a coat every couple of hours was easy as pie. I barely even use anything inbetween (maybe just some VERY light #0000 sanding in between coats).What I like is that I could do a coat in the morning, do another around lunch time, afternoon, dinner, etc. You get the idea. Before you know it you have like 50 super thin coats on there with very little effort.Hell, I even kept hitting it every once in a while with the pups and hardware on!
I would never have the skill, gear or patience to do lacquer. I leave that to the pros. Click to expand.Alder, due to it's positively horrendous staining qualities makes a good vehicle for oil based varnishes (like Tru-oil.) Especially for the first time finisher, or anyone without access to decent spray gear.If you search around you'll also find other oil based 'gun' products that offer some other color options (Pilkington - available from midwayUSA.com) but are a bit more spendy.If you want real quick and real easy also consider a pre mixed shellac. You can pad on a few coats, sand it, buff it (or not) in a weekend.
It's not nearly as durable as an oil varnish (but not nearly as fragile as people will tell you) and if you like the 'worn' look you'll have it, or you can just retouch it down the road.