MrMuckle Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Anyone use Tru-Oil on a wooden pickguard? Does the pick scratch the stuff off in a short amount of time or is it pretty durable given quite a few coats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 It is really not that durable in terms of a hard finish.It is just more durable than pure oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhattr88 Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 i have a koa pickguard on a guitar i made last year. i gig with it a couple times a month. no problems at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 I guess part that you have to take into consideration is, do you hit the pick guard enough to scratch it. The first guitar I built is going on 7 years old now, has a nitro lacquer clear coat and no pick guard. It does not have a single bit of wear from the pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMuckle Posted October 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 madhattr88 - Beautiful pickguard, and it's finished with Tru-Oil? ihocky2 - I do hit the pickguard enough to scratch it. I think Tru-Oil is not as durable as nitro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhattr88 Posted October 28, 2010 Report Share Posted October 28, 2010 madhattr88 - Beautiful pickguard, and it's finished with Tru-Oil? ihocky2 - I do hit the pickguard enough to scratch it. I think Tru-Oil is not as durable as nitro. yup, tru-oil, about 10 coats. i play a lot of punk, so i'm constantly hitting the guard. not even close to wearing off the finish. more problems with my belt buckle on the back..but hey...it adds character right? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postal Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I think getting a good amount of coats on, it gets very durable. It seems like (though I've no proof) the more coats you put on, the harder it gets. Though nothing is as durable as automotive clear. It is the toughest stuff out there. (except a "boat finish" epoxy) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 If it's the look of the tru-oil you want but you are worried about it being scratched off just put oil on then spray lacquer or any other clear over it. I did that on a guitar body with Danish oil and it turned out great. But if the price of tru-oil is a factor for you and that is what makes you hesitant towards putting it on look into other oils like linseed oil and danish oil. They work just as good and are a lot cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 I really,really would not put clear over an oil finish... Shellac gives much of the same look as an oil finish,and you can clear over it.All oil does is slightly darken the wood,and so does shellac..or pretty much anything,really... BTW,danish oil and lindseed oil are nothing like tru-oil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 I really,really would not put clear over an oil finish... Shellac gives much of the same look as an oil finish,and you can clear over it.All oil does is slightly darken the wood,and so does shellac..or pretty much anything,really... BTW,danish oil and lindseed oil are nothing like tru-oil I have never used Shellac before but I have some, I might try it sometime. As for the lacquer over the oil I just decided to try it out and see what happened. I have no idea what will happen to the finish over time but it's just as good as it was when I sprayed it over a year ago. I have never used tru-oil honestly and for a couple reasons, mainly because it's to expensive for my taste, I have seen pictures of it before and didn't see much difference in the way it made things look compared to other oil finishes, I have used both linseed and danish oils and I like the way they look better from what I have seen from tru-oil, and the luthier I go to for advice said it looks similar enough to linseed (which I agree with). Who knows I may change my mind if I ever use it but as for now I am not going to be using it anytime soon. I mean this with all due respect and I'm not trying to fight at all I am just saying what it is to me at least and from my experience with other oil finishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 I hear you.What makes it difficult to be clear on all of it is that manufacturers are creating confusion with misleading product names.Check this out. http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/finish2.html As you can see in that article by Bob Flexner(who tends to cut through all of the marketing hype),some things with "oil" in the name are not oil at all,and some things with "varnish" in the name are actually oil... He wrote a really great book called "understanding wood finishing" which is a GREAT book and also a fun read...I bought it on Drak's advice and it is a good reference to keep on hand,but even though I have read it more than once I still get my "facts" confused,and some that I do remember are hard to type out coherently... So if you were to get a copy of this book(Amazon is where I got mine) it could really serve you well and you would not have to experiment and wait on combining finishes... But undoubtedly the best and safest thing to do is choose a clear finish (I use Sherwin Williams conversion varnish),buy the dyes that are compatible with the system you choose,and stick with that.. But there are many people that do different finishes for different outcomes,and that is cool too...I just would be very hesitant to suggest combining oils and laquers in such generic terms,because if someone buys an incompatible oil and stuffs up a finish,they will most likely blame the advice instead of blaming themselves for not researching properly. But check out the book....maybe the best book on finishing in existence.Nobody can know everything..but it can at least get you educated in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 I will look into that book. For finishing I either just use Cabot semi-gloss lacquer or Watco Danish oil or Tung oil. I have used Linseed oil once and liked it. I am interested in this book though to see what they say. I will look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 I tried a few oils when i was first getting into building.Really,I was just trying to find the "easiest" way to put a good finish on a guitar,as finishing always seemed so tough to me.But after a few weeks of playing on oil finishes turned my guitars into dirty pieces of wood,I decided to give the hard finishes a shot,and after a little practice,I realized I was trying to avoid something that I should have been looking forward to.. Finishing is now the part of the build I look forward to the most...the idea of taking raw wood and turning it into art,and then putting that art "behind glass"(the hard finish) really appeals to me...like framing your work in a not just protective cover,but one that can also add beauty if done right..and it i only limited my your imagination. Oil finishes only do one thing...darken natural wood...but with hard film finishes you can create bursts,opaque colors,airbrushed pictures...anything you can think of...sky is the limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 I tried a few oils when i was first getting into building.Really,I was just trying to find the "easiest" way to put a good finish on a guitar,as finishing always seemed so tough to me.But after a few weeks of playing on oil finishes turned my guitars into dirty pieces of wood,I decided to give the hard finishes a shot,and after a little practice,I realized I was trying to avoid something that I should have been looking forward to.. Finishing is now the part of the build I look forward to the most...the idea of taking raw wood and turning it into art,and then putting that art "behind glass"(the hard finish) really appeals to me...like framing your work in a not just protective cover,but one that can also add beauty if done right..and it i only limited my your imagination. Oil finishes only do one thing...darken natural wood...but with hard film finishes you can create bursts,opaque colors,airbrushed pictures...anything you can think of...sky is the limit. See that's why I use oil or just a clear coat. I don't like paint or colored guitars much at all. But that's just my taste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Sometimes I agree.If the wood is beautiful and unusual in some way...but I also really love a good workhorse of a guitar,and in my opinion a workhorse guitar needs a durable protective finish. But I do think that a clear gloss does more for natural wood beauty than oil. Just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted November 29, 2010 Report Share Posted November 29, 2010 Sometimes I agree.If the wood is beautiful and unusual in some way...but I also really love a good workhorse of a guitar,and in my opinion a workhorse guitar needs a durable protective finish. But I do think that a clear gloss does more for natural wood beauty than oil. Just my opinion. I agree, that's why I put the lacquer on so I could still have the look of an oiled guitar but still had a clear hard coat on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St.wise-professor Posted December 2, 2010 Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 Tru oil is a very durable finish it is made to put on hunting rifle stocks to keep them resistant to water and whatever else you might drag it across out in the woods. Also a clear coat over tru oil is a very common thing among refinishers. It is not a normal oil finish. It is basically a BLO with hardeners and varnish mixed into it that speeds up curing time and makes it harder than a normal oil finish. Will it be hard enough that it will not scuff up over time? probably not but it does build so you can always throw another coat on whenever you feel like it or when you start to wear through or if you decide not to clear it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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