Applying a true-oil finish

[VanKirk]

I've seen some posts that talk a little about using tru-oil. I found this site very useful for applying this kind of finish and thought others could use it as well.

I'm gonna use it for the first time on my project.

Applying a Tru-Oil Finish

[Brian]

Great tutorial, I wish they would show a few pictures but all the content is there.

The only thing I saw that got me though is they should put

WARNING - This oil product, like others, may not cure over Cocobolo. Avo

at the top of the page and not the bottom

Some poor guy's gonna pull a Homer I can just see it

[goth_fiend]

oooooooooooooo!!!!!!! oiled cocobola.......mmmmmm oiled.....D'OH!!!!!

[VanKirk]

Great tutorial, I wish they would show a few pictures but all the content is there.

I agree. Pics are needed. I had to do alot of looking around to see how it looks as a finished product on different types of wood.

[Page_Master]

that's funny, i was just looking at that tutorial today. before it was even mentioned on this forum. well as they say. great minds think a like.

[Drak]

There's lots of information on Tru-Oil finishing at the MIMF, but it's in the archives and you have to be a member (free) to access the archives.

[Lex Luthier]

I use a polimerized tung oil on Cocobolo pens I turn on my lathe. It works fine.

Regarding pics: I use a polimerized tung oil and sealer on my instruments, it's not Tru-oil, but pretty much the same thing. Maybe I could take detailed pics when I finish the neck of my bass.

[wylde1919]

I'm daft. whats the joke about the cocbola?

[VanKirk]

wylde1919 Posted on Feb 23 2004, 02:34 PM

  I'm daft. whats the joke about the cocbola? 

Cocobolo is a very oily wood that doesn't take an oil finish well.

[frank falbo]

It sounds a lot like J.E. Mosers polymerized tung oil varnish, but with linseed as the base. (is that what you use Lex?) I love that finish. I also love the General Finishes Arm-R-Seal oil/poly finish. I see almost no need to ever do a body in straight oil again. Necks, maybe, since there's a dry feel to natural tung oil that the finishes don't have. They can feel like a "coating" on the neck. But for bodies I love an oil/varnish or oil/poly blend.

Cocobolo will take the Arm-R-Seal and the Polymerized tung oil varnish. Maybe it's the linseed oil base of the tru-oil that reduces the adhesion and curing. I didn't read the whole thing so maybe I missed it, but you should be wiping down the surface of oily woods like cocobolo with naptha, mineral spirits, an oil soap mixture and a damp rag, or even a household degreaser if nothing else. The kind of thing that will flash the oil off the surface. Then apply the finish before new oils, already present in the wood, draw their way back out to the surface. The oil "finish" that you're applying has hardeners infused in it. The wood oil doesn't. So the deeper you get your finish to penetrate without the wood oils "diluting" it's curing agents, the better. That's part of what's happening with the oily woods. Their oils mix with your finish, and it changes the makeup of the finish. Kind of like putting 1/2 vegetable cooking oil in your finish. It'll never dry. I've waited 5 days on a headstock, and I might have to scrape it clean because I forgot about the little part where the rosewood fretboard extends behind the nut. It's a perfect line. The Mahogany is cured hard and the rosewood isn't, because I didn't clean it first.

[Lex Luthier]

(is that what you use Lex?)

I use a Sealer, then This.

[Page_Master]

so have you ever finished a guitar/bass with these polymerized tung oil products Lex?

[Lex Luthier]

so have you ever finished a guitar/bass with these polymerized tung oil products Lex?

That's all I've ever used, though I'm looking into solid finishes now.