Advice on how to refinish a strat with tru oil

[Stratguy21]

Hi guys I tries to relic a fender american elite strat but it went wrong and now I am going to definish all the nitro cellulose laquer by gently picking it off.

I am wondering will the alder need any grain filler or some thing apllied to the wood before applying the tru oil finish?

Advice on this and how to not meaanit up greatly appreciated.

I unserstand alder is cloaed pore wood so does not need grain filler?

Once nitro finish i gently picked off as i prefer not using solvents to remove it. My guess is to gently sand the whole body down with wet and dry fine to very fine paper?

Then apply a thin even coat and leave to dry in garden overnight on a non rainy day?

Thanks guys

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Advice on how to refinish a strat with tru oil

I am wondering will the alder need any grain filler or some thing apllied to the wood before applying the tru oil finish?

No filler needed for alder.

My guess is to gently sand the whole body down with wet and dry fine to very fine paper?

Then apply a thin even coat and leave to dry in garden overnight on a non rainy day?

If you strip it alder might not need real sanding. Scuffing with Scotchbrite should be enough. Thin coats of finish are always the way to go, but overnight in the garden is not recommended. Bugs love the smell of fresh finishes - especially lacquer. Also, when it cools down at night moisture could condense on the guitar. No Bueno. Suggest drying in the garage if possible. TruOil will require a couple coats at least, as it goes on very thin.

Good luck.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Advice on how to refinish a strat with tru oil

To remove nitro with a stripper or solvent is a simple, quick, and clean matter, that will give you the best results in terms of quality. Not wanting to do that is something you should get over.

The problem is that the guitar has a poly sealer coat, which you will need to remove if you want to apply an oil finish. Removing poly is a bear. The quickest way is to burn it off (carefully, with great control and the right equipment), but that will almost certainly result in some burn marks – not good if you will be using a clear or translucent finish. It can be taken off chemically. It can also be sanded off, but this is the most difficult and messy approach, and it will definitely result in some wood being removed along with the poly. Not a good approach IMO/IME. IMO, it's worth the $150 that most refinishers charge to strip a poly body. It's a ton of work, and that really isn't that much money.

Your best best is to abandon the idea of an oil finish, and just remove the nitro and leave the poly sealer intact. Then polish the sealer coat up to the desired luster. Use acetone. It will remove the nitro without doing a thing to the poly sealer. Some strippers will cause poly to bubble, and then you are screwed; you'll have to remove it all. You'd probably be fine with a mild "green" stripper, but acetone is cheap, easy, found everywhere, and definitely won't hurt your sealer coat.

If you have already broken through part of your sealer coat during your botched relic work, then patch whatever flaws you made with Bondo, sand and smooth, then primer and paint an opaque color.

If you really, really, really want on oil finish on bare wood, then I would just send the thing to MJT and pay them $150 to strip the sealer coat off for you. Then oil it yourself.

Alder should be grain filled unless you like the mild grain lines that appear when you don't do so. I think they're kind of beautiful, myself. From '63 on, Fender used a thick, spray-on, single-step filler and sealer called Fullerplast. That's why you don't see alder grain lines on most '60s Fenders. The alder ones shot with nitro in the '50s and early '60s, when Fullerplast wasn't being used yet, do indeed have grain lines.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Advice on how to refinish a strat with tru oil

Alder should be grain filled unless you like the mild grain lines that appear when you don't do so.

Perhaps you are thinking of another wood - like ash? Alder is not usually filled, as the grain is very tight and the pores miniscule.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Advice on how to refinish a strat with tru oil

Perhaps you are thinking of another wood - like ash? Alder is not usually filled, as the grain is very tight and the pores miniscule.

No; I am thinking of alder. I meant exactly what I wrote.

It is true that the grain is very tight and the pores are small (usually). Nonetheless, the grain will show through a thin finish, unless a relatively thick sealer (like Fullerplast) is used, or you do dozens of coats of lacquer, with sanding after each batch of coats. Tru Oil is among the thinnest finishes in existence (much thinner than lacquer), so alder will appear even less flat and more grainy than with a thinly applied lacquer.

Again, it's not a bad look IMO. My AV Jazz Bass has it. My gold AV Strat has it. My AV Jaguar has it. They all use lacquer based sanding sealers and thin coats of nitro for color and clear. I like it, myself. But if you don't want it, or you want to replicate the glassy look of a Fender that used Fullerplast (combination grain filler and sanding sealer, used '63 and up), you should grain fill, even on alder. Otherwise, your finish can have slightly raised grain patterns.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Advice on how to refinish a strat with tru oil

I did several guitars with truoil and its great on a shellac sealer, but on poly it won't happen. Bite on the bullet and buy some nitro rattle cans.