This link is to a photobucket album by Tom Pettingill who makes custom lap steel guitars. I'm placing it here because as you look at the pix, remember that he uses tru-oil as his finish. It is not just a finish for 'beginners', and is used on high end acoustics as well. I attach one pic - notice the reflections on the sides.
http://s302.photobucket.com/albums/nn87/tompettingill/
Tru-oil pix
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deadedith
Tru-oil pix
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Ben-Had
- Posts: 1405
- Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 2:14 pm
- Location: Creedmoor, NC
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mjmeehan
- Posts: 191
- Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:58 am
- Location: Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Re: Tru-oil pix
Love the Tru-Oil... with a little practice it is a beautiful guitar finish. And, Yes, it feels great on a neck.
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Ken Hundley
- Posts: 608
- Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 12:34 am
- Location: Wilmette, IL
Re: Tru-oil pix
I've not had great success with it yet except on necks....I like to spray more than hand apply, and the spray version of truoil is for the birds. One coat per day? You kidding? and it never dries as hard as the hand rubbed stuff. Those who do "get it" however produce some truly stunning results. Hand applied finishing is something I need to work on quite a bit to enhance my own skill set. The Curly Mango I am working on got the Tru-oil stripped, and will be EM-6000 finished. The neck, however, will be Tru-oil. I'll take extra care on this one and see if I can improve my process at all.
Ken Hundley
Nocturnal Guitars
http://www.nocturnalguitars.com
So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I'd try it too.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
Nocturnal Guitars
http://www.nocturnalguitars.com
So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I'd try it too.
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
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moobox
Re: Tru-oil pix
Sorry to revive an old thread, but can you tell me plse, what pore filling is required before applying Tru-oil? I plan to do a mahogany neck with Tru-oil and not sure if it should be pore filled first. For the back & sides (also mahogany) I plan to French polish and want to use Z-poxy.
Cheers - Ed
Cheers - Ed
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rgogo65
Re: Tru-oil pix
Guy's here's a post note that has accompanied the pic above:
"The below walnut examples were grain filled and finished with Tru Oil. For the grain fill part, I do a wet and thorough first coat of Tru Oil and let it suck it up. Once its soaked in good, I wipe any excess off and let cure overnight. From there I use some 400 grit and a big pink eraser for a block and wet sand small areas at a time with strait Tru Oil. This creates a TO and wood dust slurry that builds up in the pores. Depending on the grain, it can take a couple sessions. Once filled, I do about 3 light coats a day and wet sand the next morning before that days coats with some 1000 grit and a little mineral spirits for a lube. From there, its a mater of repeating the process till its all flat and level. Hard to say just how many coats it ends up taking, but in general, its about a week long process the way I do it. Tom Pettingill")
Let me add a bit to this, (Also from Tom's posts in the past and I have had great personal success following these guidelines.)
Let's start at "Once filled" from above...the key here is "LIGHT COATS". I can't tell you how important this is. and the term " LIGHT/THIN" is VERY subjective.
Here's how I do it after grain filling...(The slurry filling is great by the way) is finished...
I use a micro fiber cloth, lay it out and lay about 4 cotton balls in the center and pick up all four corners, pour a small amount of tru-oil in a fruit jar lid type container and dip the cloth wrapped tightly around the cotton balls in the TO and spread it with the grain, if it starts leaving streaks or gets dry add a little more TO....wipe out center lines until smooth over entire guitar. Allow to try to touch. You can usually do 3 coats a day this way. Allow to dry over night, lightly wetsand with 1000 and a little mineral spirits, lightly wipe away all residue. Next day before continuing, clean carefully with a LIGHTLY damped microfiber cloth and naphtha.
WARNING: Naphtha will remove uncured Tru-oil!
Where most people have a problem is trying to put on too much at a time...as long as you are getting full coverage there is no such thing as "Too thin".
Another way to apply THIN coats is with a coffee filter, rather than the cotton balls.. I fold it in thirds and lightly add Tru-oil to the filter, being sure to wipe away any runs edge lines left with a DRY filter and then follow as above.
3 a day...I usually wind up with 12 to 15 coats depending on the type of wood and how it looks.
Then there are two choices, I've used both....
1. Put it up and let it cure for a minimum of a week depending on humidity (46%) it may take 10 days if the humidity is higher.
Start wet sanding with a few drops of mineral spirits at 1000 and as high as you wish to go...sanding with the grain with one grit....at a 45 with the next to the right...at a 45 with the next ti the left....at a 90 with the next and so forth...do not skip grain sizes....I personally go to 2000 and them use perfect it II 3M part # 39003 with a hand buffer and then go to 3M perfect it II rubbing compound #39002 and then follow up with 3 M Professional formula Imperial Hand Glaze #39007 there are NO waxes or silicone's in these products.
2. Spray the last 3 coats of TO with the following: Tru-oil mixed 2-1 with mineral spirits and then allow to cure as above and polish as above.
Note: IMHO the 2-1 spray allows it to dry much quicker with a hard finish sooner...I STILL allow it to cure a week before continuing with the sanding and polishing method outlined above...but if you don't have a spray rig, it isn't necessary number 1. will work just fine.
Some remarks to it being a "Soft finish" My Son has been playing with a hand applied 12 coat TO neck as outlined above, averaging 40 hours a week in the club and studio for almost 3 years now and there are no signs of wear, I touched up a couple of dinks and added a couple of coats just because but it wasn't necessary.
You can't get much more durable than that.
I hope this dispels some of the hoodoo going around about Tru-oil and helps some try it as a finish, because it's really great....by the way, Birchwood Casey makes a Tru-oil sealer /filler too if you don't want to do the slurry as above, it's a great product.
Tru-oil is water proof, alcohol proof, beer proof and just about anything else proof because it was designed for gun stocks originally.
The entire process should not take over two weeks from start to finish and there's no waiting a month as with lacquer, there's no case marks or pattern transfer to the finish as with lacquer, there's minimal odor, and almost no sanding...compared to lacquer.
IMHO if there is a down side to TO it's learning how to be patient enough to add as thin a coat as possible, almost as if you've added none.... remembering in the end, it's only a 2 week process and not 4-6 weeks.
Ray (:>)8
"The below walnut examples were grain filled and finished with Tru Oil. For the grain fill part, I do a wet and thorough first coat of Tru Oil and let it suck it up. Once its soaked in good, I wipe any excess off and let cure overnight. From there I use some 400 grit and a big pink eraser for a block and wet sand small areas at a time with strait Tru Oil. This creates a TO and wood dust slurry that builds up in the pores. Depending on the grain, it can take a couple sessions. Once filled, I do about 3 light coats a day and wet sand the next morning before that days coats with some 1000 grit and a little mineral spirits for a lube. From there, its a mater of repeating the process till its all flat and level. Hard to say just how many coats it ends up taking, but in general, its about a week long process the way I do it. Tom Pettingill")
Let me add a bit to this, (Also from Tom's posts in the past and I have had great personal success following these guidelines.)
Let's start at "Once filled" from above...the key here is "LIGHT COATS". I can't tell you how important this is. and the term " LIGHT/THIN" is VERY subjective.
Here's how I do it after grain filling...(The slurry filling is great by the way) is finished...
I use a micro fiber cloth, lay it out and lay about 4 cotton balls in the center and pick up all four corners, pour a small amount of tru-oil in a fruit jar lid type container and dip the cloth wrapped tightly around the cotton balls in the TO and spread it with the grain, if it starts leaving streaks or gets dry add a little more TO....wipe out center lines until smooth over entire guitar. Allow to try to touch. You can usually do 3 coats a day this way. Allow to dry over night, lightly wetsand with 1000 and a little mineral spirits, lightly wipe away all residue. Next day before continuing, clean carefully with a LIGHTLY damped microfiber cloth and naphtha.
WARNING: Naphtha will remove uncured Tru-oil!
Where most people have a problem is trying to put on too much at a time...as long as you are getting full coverage there is no such thing as "Too thin".
Another way to apply THIN coats is with a coffee filter, rather than the cotton balls.. I fold it in thirds and lightly add Tru-oil to the filter, being sure to wipe away any runs edge lines left with a DRY filter and then follow as above.
3 a day...I usually wind up with 12 to 15 coats depending on the type of wood and how it looks.
Then there are two choices, I've used both....
1. Put it up and let it cure for a minimum of a week depending on humidity (46%) it may take 10 days if the humidity is higher.
Start wet sanding with a few drops of mineral spirits at 1000 and as high as you wish to go...sanding with the grain with one grit....at a 45 with the next to the right...at a 45 with the next ti the left....at a 90 with the next and so forth...do not skip grain sizes....I personally go to 2000 and them use perfect it II 3M part # 39003 with a hand buffer and then go to 3M perfect it II rubbing compound #39002 and then follow up with 3 M Professional formula Imperial Hand Glaze #39007 there are NO waxes or silicone's in these products.
2. Spray the last 3 coats of TO with the following: Tru-oil mixed 2-1 with mineral spirits and then allow to cure as above and polish as above.
Note: IMHO the 2-1 spray allows it to dry much quicker with a hard finish sooner...I STILL allow it to cure a week before continuing with the sanding and polishing method outlined above...but if you don't have a spray rig, it isn't necessary number 1. will work just fine.
Some remarks to it being a "Soft finish" My Son has been playing with a hand applied 12 coat TO neck as outlined above, averaging 40 hours a week in the club and studio for almost 3 years now and there are no signs of wear, I touched up a couple of dinks and added a couple of coats just because but it wasn't necessary.
You can't get much more durable than that.
I hope this dispels some of the hoodoo going around about Tru-oil and helps some try it as a finish, because it's really great....by the way, Birchwood Casey makes a Tru-oil sealer /filler too if you don't want to do the slurry as above, it's a great product.
Tru-oil is water proof, alcohol proof, beer proof and just about anything else proof because it was designed for gun stocks originally.
The entire process should not take over two weeks from start to finish and there's no waiting a month as with lacquer, there's no case marks or pattern transfer to the finish as with lacquer, there's minimal odor, and almost no sanding...compared to lacquer.
IMHO if there is a down side to TO it's learning how to be patient enough to add as thin a coat as possible, almost as if you've added none.... remembering in the end, it's only a 2 week process and not 4-6 weeks.
Ray (:>)8
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Jim_H
- Posts: 506
- Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:51 pm
- Location: Bothell, WA USA
Re: Tru-oil pix
What is the repairability/burn-in for Tru-Oil?
How does it age? Does it darken?
I assume it's natural color is a walnut sort of color? How does this look on a spruce soundboard?
Can it be tinted?
How does it age? Does it darken?
I assume it's natural color is a walnut sort of color? How does this look on a spruce soundboard?
Can it be tinted?
My poorly maintained "Blog"
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deadedith
Re: Tru-oil pix
It will give a slight amber tint to the spruce, though 'all' it does to the hardwood is to beautify it, darkening it slightly but adding no tint.
I know of people that mix tint with the TO, but I have not had success doing that.
To repair, use a good quality non-oily 0000 steel wool to rough up the surface, as the TO makes a mechanical bond - and apply more TO to the affected and surrounding area. Easier to do than to describe it. :-)
If you have gone for the very high gloss, and get some scratches, you can wet sand with no less than 1200 grit and repair that way.
For a great satinlike finish, the TO is perfect, easily repairable, and wood LOVES it!
I know of people that mix tint with the TO, but I have not had success doing that.
To repair, use a good quality non-oily 0000 steel wool to rough up the surface, as the TO makes a mechanical bond - and apply more TO to the affected and surrounding area. Easier to do than to describe it. :-)
If you have gone for the very high gloss, and get some scratches, you can wet sand with no less than 1200 grit and repair that way.
For a great satinlike finish, the TO is perfect, easily repairable, and wood LOVES it!
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Jim_H
- Posts: 506
- Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:51 pm
- Location: Bothell, WA USA
Re: Tru-oil pix
I played with it on a uke I built a few years ago, but I didn't know what I was doing, and glopped it on too thick. It was terrible.
I was contemplating a wipe on poly test, but after reading this, I may give tru-oil another try.
I sanded it all back and the uke remains unfinished. The tru-oil bottle went south on me, so if I decide to retry, I'll have to buy more.
I was contemplating a wipe on poly test, but after reading this, I may give tru-oil another try.
I sanded it all back and the uke remains unfinished. The tru-oil bottle went south on me, so if I decide to retry, I'll have to buy more.
My poorly maintained "Blog"
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rgogo65
Re: Tru-oil pix
Ken,Ken Hundley wrote:I've not had great success with it yet except on necks....I like to spray more than hand apply, and the spray version of truoil is for the birds. One coat per day? You kidding? and it never dries as hard as the hand rubbed stuff. Those who do "get it" however produce some truly stunning results. Hand applied finishing is something I need to work on quite a bit to enhance my own skill set. The Curly Mango I am working on got the Tru-oil stripped, and will be EM-6000 finished. The neck, however, will be Tru-oil. I'll take extra care on this one and see if I can improve my process at all.
As a response to your spraying problem, try thinning 2-1 with mineral spirits, shoot it THIN...dry to touch between coats....no sanding, you should get 3-4 coats a day....allow to dry over night, THEN sand lightly with 1000 and a few drops of mineral spirits, wipe clean LIGHTLY with a micro fiber cloth slightly dampened with naphtha and shoot the next 3 ... 2-1 thinned coats...and so on...15 coats will be ample (5 days) Then allow it to cure a week before finial sanding as high as you wish to go...I find 2000 works great with the 3M products listed in the post above...you should be very pleased with your results.
Ray