Problems with Truoil

[string_man]

I have treated my self-built electric guitar with Truoil (the wood is thermo-treated maple). I followed the instructions exactly (only application with 24 hours waiting time between coats, in the meantime treatment with steel wool). After 5 coats, the surface was unfortunately not homogeneous. Some areas remained matt, others shiny. After waiting a week I applied Sheen & Conditioner according to the instructions, even after multiple polishing the matte areas did not disappear and the surface feels slightly sticky. I have two questions:
1) What could be the reason for this? Could it be that the Truoil has expired (I have had the bottle for 5 years, it has been opened at that time).
2) I would like to touch up the surface now and apply Truoil again. To do this, do I need to completely remove all of the Truoil again or is it sufficient to remove the top layers (including sheen & conditioner) again with steel wool and reapply to the remaining Truoil layers?

Who has experience with this? Am very grateful for any help!

[mistermikev]

tru oil takes about 9 thousand coats to get to gloss depending on the wood.  i suspect some areas have enough, while others don't.  you can just keep doing tru oil on the top.  idk what sheen and conditioner will leave behind so you might make sure you get rid of that first.

[ScottR]

6 hours ago, string_man said:

Could it be that the Truoil has expired (I have had the bottle for 5 years, it has been opened at that time).

Yes, exactly this. I have run across the same thing using an old bottle for repairs. The old oil never got completely hard. You need to take it off and start over with a fresh bottle. And like Mike says, it does take a lot of thin coats....although I have never waited twenty four hours between coats, more like one hour and maybe three or four coats a day. Also, I have successfully sprayed it and that goes much quicker.

SR

[string_man]

21 hours ago, ScottR said:

Yes, exactly this. I have run across the same thing using an old bottle for repairs. The old oil never got completely hard. You need to take it off and start over with a fresh bottle. And like Mike says, it does take a lot of thin coats....although I have never waited twenty four hours between coats, more like one hour and maybe three or four coats a day. Also, I have successfully sprayed it and that goes much quicker.

SR

Ok I see... this means taking it off completely? Do you have any hints how to do so? 00 steel wool or sanding paper?

[ScottR]

Both of those will work, but will likely be pretty frustrating since areas are still gummy. I would probably use a paint stripper and rinse the residue with a paint thinner.

There are videos available showing it done.

SR

[Drak]

I thought I was usually the slice-n-dicer, the bare-knuckled 'I have no feelings' presenter of bad news guy.

But it seems like we've switched chairs for this one as I'm going to come in swinging with big soft furry kitty mittens on .

Can you post a few pics here of it before you lay waste to the finish?

I do agree with Scott, but you only put 5 coats of Tru-Oil on the thing where most use 10-15 coats or More.

So I'm willing to entertain the possibility that its not 100% a gummed-up old bottle of Tru-Oil that is at fault, tho it still might be.

And if the present 5 coats is not showing signs of gummy bear syndrome, I would go fetch a new bottle to finish it up.

It 'may' be that you just haven't used enough of it yet.

Hell, after the first initial coat has dried and stopped up the pores, I'd be putting 5 coats on the piece in the space of a few hours every day.

Some pics would be mighty helpful <removing big soft furry kitty mittens now>.