Painting Over Tung Oil

[kiko]

Hi,

Just wondering will it be possible to paint over a guitar that has been finished in tung oil?

How can I go about preparing it for paint?

It has about 4 rubbed/sanded on coats of tung oil.

Thanks.

[kiko]

bump

[darren wilson]

Just wondering will it be possible to paint over a guitar that has been finished in tung oil?

No.

[Brian]

Wouldn't something such as an acetone wash or two pull the oil out from the top of the surface and dry it at the same time?

[Dugz Ink]

I've removed tung oil from the surface of wood with an SOS pad; it cuts the oil and smoothes the surface in one fell swoop. (I originally discovered this by accident while trying to remove cosmoline from an 80 year old gunstock... which I subsequently had to refinish.) You just have to make sure that 1) you rinse off ALL of the detergent, and 2) you don't drown the wood. I've always used water that was just a few degrees below "scalding hot"... it works fast and dries fast.

Of course, I've only used that technique on old, thick, solid hardwood. It would probably be a bad idea to try that on a hollow-body that has a thin Spruce top. In a case like that, I would use mineral spirits or acetone, which should (slowly) strip the oil.

If it's one of the commercial tung oil mixes that conatins hardeners, you may be able to seal over it with polyurethane; Minwax actually recommends putting their fast-drying poly over their "tung oil" finish. (That says a lot about their oil-based finish!)

D~s

[BJPUC]

I had great luck stripping a tung-oil finish with Acetone and 000 and 0000 Steel Wool. I was satisfied after about an hour of rotating between the two. And Brian i am off tour for the winter

bj