Wilborn Guitar Attempt

[Tomcat]

Looking good. And I love the pizza-seasoning shaker for the sawdust :-)

[scamp]

First time using end grain sawdust and shellac as a pore filler for the neck.

I will be using Tru-Oil to finish the guitar and have learned from previous experience that unlike other finishes it goes on very thin and does not provide any substantial pore filling on it's own. Hence, the pore filling preparations must be very good before applying the Tru-Oil. It took 6 coats of sawdust and shellac to get it good enough but it does work well if you take the time. I highly recommend this method for mahogany necks.

For the rest of the guitar I will be using Aqua Coat for pore filling and Tru-Oil. I have used these products before and struggled . So this time I did experiments on scrap wood to determine the best method to apply the pore filler and Tru-Oil. For those interested.. here is what I learned.

1) The directions on how to apply Aqua Coat on the product using liberal amounts with a credit card / squeegee didn't work well for the EIR. I did try it on a piece of oak used for cabinets with really large pores and it seemed to work OK. My conclusion is that the method they suggest works for very large pores on oak but will not force the product into smaller pores on rosewood . What I found did work was vigorously rubbing small amount into the wood with a blue Scott shop towel. The friction of the towel with the thin coat of Aqua-Coat did the trick. Even with this, however, it took about 6 coats and sanding with 320 grit sandpaper for each coat to get it good enough.

2) In the past I used diluted Tru-Oil ( 3 parts Tru-Oil with 2 parts mineral spirits ) to finish a guitar. It produced a rather high gloss finish but was a pain as it's difficult to apply. It dries quickly causing streaks/tears on the surface and you need to apply a significant number of coats. What seemed to work the best in my experiments was thin coats of full strength Tru-Oil rubbed on thinly using a blue Shop Towel using small circular motions and then going back over the surface with a clean blue shop towel to remove the circular streaks. With full strength Tru-Oil you have much more time to work. I found I could apply 3 coats per day and before starting the next day I could lightly scuff the surface with 800 grit sand paper with some mineral spirits for lubrication. The down side to full strength Tru-Oil I found is it produces more of a mat finish ( not as glossy ). So... after about 10 coats, I tried applying the diluted Tru-Oil in long strokes ( so it went on quickly ) with the grain. This produced a much improved glossy finish. I did this for another two coats and it worked well. So my conclusion is full strength Tur-Oil for the initial coats and then a few coats of diluted Tru-Oil for the final coats if you want a more glossy finish.

So... that's what I learned. Now to try it out on the actual guitar.

Pore Filled Neck.JPEG

Finishing Experiments.JPEG

[scamp]

Started finishing the actual guitar body after completing my finishing experiments.
Pore filling with Aqua Coat took more coats than expected.
Took 8 coats to get all EIR pores totally filled to the point required for TruOil finish.
It was worth the effort as in my previous attempts using Aqua Coat with a TruOil finish I convinced myself that the pores were adequately filled when they weren't and it caused all kinds of problems down the road.
Have now applied 4 coats of TruOil and it looks good and happy with the preparation.
The first coats are absorbed differently by the wood causing some streaking, which is to be expected, but with each coat it improves as the TruOil builds up. I'm hoping, given what I'm seeing, that 15 coats will about do it assuming the last three coats are diluted TruOil ( 3 parts TruOil with 2 parts mineral spirits ). Decided to use 2000 grit sandpaper with mineral sprits to scuff the surface after every 3 coats which seems to work well.

TruOil Finish 4 Coats 1.JPEG

TruOil Finish 4 Coats 2.JPEG

TruOil Finish 4 Coats 3.JPEG

[Joshyouare]

Shaping up nicely! I saw Beau Hannam on youtube recently did a similar finish, epoxy pore + tru oil, and then a wax finish on top. Ends up with a really nice soft satin finish, similar to Lowdens. I love that look. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubL_HlsF7Ns if you are interested!

[scamp]

Still working on the TruOil finish.
Up to 15 coats with full strength TurOil and it's starting to look reasonably good.
It's amazing how the ebony starts to look like shiny black plastic.
Time to switch over to diluted TruOil ( 3 parst TruOil and 2 parts mineral spirits) for the final coats.
This is where it gets a bit tricky.
Final coats need to be applied quickly and accurately or you get streaks and imperfections in the finish.

TruOil Finish 15 Coats 3.JPEG

TruOil Finish 15 Coats 4.JPEG

[scamp]

As usual, the last 10% takes 50% of the effort.
Tried to apply the final TruOil diluted finish coats but it didn't come out as good as I would have liked.
The surface wasn't really that flat, as all the coats of TruOil oil built up differently over the wood grain.
So i decided to try and sand the surface as flat as I could and reapply the final 3 or 4 finish coats of oil.
Used 800 grit and then progressively finer grits up to about 3000 grit to get the surface good enough to reapply the finish coats.
If you don't do this, the 800 grit leaves marks that require more TruOil coats to cover ( maybe 6 coats or more ).
In the end it worked well.
Think I'm about ready to attach the neck and the bridge.

TruOil Final Finish 1.JPEG

TruOil Final Finish 2.JPEG

TruOil Final Finish 3.JPEG

TruOil Final Finish 4.JPEG

[scamp]

Installed the tuners.
Always a challenge to get them in without messing up the finish and getting them aligned properly.
Attached the neck to the body.
Now just need to wait a bit before using a vacuum clamp to attach the bridge without messing up the top finish.
Almost there.

Headstock Front with Tuners 2.JPEG

Headstock Back with Tuners.JPEG

Attached Neck 1.JPEG

Attached Neck 2.JPEG

[Kevin Sjostrand]

looking very nice Indeed.
I found Tru Oil to be easy but tedious, and in the end a bit difficult to get it to look even. So ended up making it Satin using 0000 steel wool. Yours looks GREAT

[scamp]

looking very nice Indeed.
I found Tru Oil to be easy but tedious, and in the end a bit difficult to get it to look even. So ended up making it Satin using 0000 steel wool. Yours looks GREAT

I use Tru Oil because I don't have access to a spray booth for Nitrocellulose. If I did, I would definitely switch.

Tru Oil is relatively easy to apply but incredibly hard to look even ( as you say ) and not have flaws, especially if you are going for a more glossy finish. It is also very difficult to deal with if you accidently get scratches, finger nail marks etc. And as far as preparation, it has basically no pore filling capability so you need to pore fill perfectly using Aqua Coat or epoxy before applying the Tru Oil. I can see why most people end up with satin/matte finishes. Every time I struggle with Tru Oil I tell myself it's the last time but when faced with the alternatives I go back to it.

[Tomcat]

I know they are different materials, but if you're not going for the nitro spray gear, what are the relative advantages of TruOil vs French polish? I would guess the French polish is more durable and perhaps more waterproof. A bit more work per coat?