Adventures in Tru-Oil

[kencierp]

And the Martin factory owner's manual does not recommend it (lemon oil) due to the long term effects of the penetrating solvents it contains --- go figure?

[Tony_in_NYC]

Martin might not recommend it, but honestly, they dont know much about guitars.
My preferred cleaning solution for my guitars is a damp cloth. I normally save my old t-shirts, cut out the stained areas in the underarm area and use them. They work swimmingly.

If TruOil dries hard like shellac, cant you use automotive paint polish on it? I dont like to use the polish any more than I absolutely have to because the darn guitar gets too slippery when I try to play it, which makes playing even more difficult for me than it already is.

[mjmeehan]

I used the Old English/ Lemon oil as it was outlined in the LMI procedure for applying a Tru oil finish....
http://www.lmii.com/carttwo/truoil.htm Anyway, it's something I may skip this time through. I've put a tru oil finish on some scrap mystery wood I had and it went on wonderfully.

The more I think about it, which has been a lot, and consider Ray's contamination idea I'm beginning to wonder if the steel wool is the culprit. I switched to smoothing with a scotch brite pad and have little to mess to wipe off.

I'll keep you all posted.

[deadedith]

Two culprits I've had in the past - one was in fact steel wool, that does have oil in it - I researched and found that out. And it is very stubborn stuff. The second culprit was sanding residue from the rosette - you have to get entirely rid of that stuff before anything liquid hits it - naptha, oil, any solvent - or it will form a goo that is also very stubborn.
DaveB

[Ben-Had]

[quote="
My preferred cleaning solution for my guitars is a damp cloth. I normally save my old t-shirts, cut out the stained areas in the underarm area and use them. [/quote]
Is there something in those "stained areas in the underarm area" that helps cut through the grime?

Tim B

[mjmeehan]

Hmmm... Aluminum Chloride and Sweat... Tim and Tony may be on to a new, improved polishing compound. Call the patent office!!

[Tony_in_NYC]

Those are the tasty parts Tim.

[penndan]

I make banjo rims with rosewood family woods for the tone ring layer - cocobolo, granadillo, and EIR. And my favorite finish for both the rim and neck is TruOil. But, TruOil doesn't dry well over the rosewood because of the oiliness of the wood. So, I apply a coat or two of shellac to the oily wood first. Then the TruOil acts right.

[Tony_in_NYC]

After re-reading this thread I realize my comments about the stained areas in the armpits was misconstrued. What I was saying is, I cut out and discard the armpit areas. I use the remaining soft parts to polish and clean the guitar. I apologize for any confusion.

[mjmeehan]

Update: The refinish has been going nicely. In fact the back now looks as good as the sides. Here's what I did different this time...
1. I put an extra coat of the sealer on and was a bit heavy handed when applying it. Then I used a lighter touch and a finer grit when sanding it down, started at 600 as opposed to 320.

2. When I applied the tru oil I used the coffee filter trick and rubbed it on back and forth with the grain to spread it out.

3. Between coats, instead of smoothing with steel wool, I used a scotch brite pad.

It's been over a week since the last coat and it looks great. I buffed it up a little with a flannel and that's it. Using the coffee filter and scotch brite pad really made a difference that was noticeable right away. There was less mess and everything dried quicker. How I got away with good looking sides the first time is still a mystery to me, but I think I've found a tru oil technique that works for me.