Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

[Greyum]

So far my Christmas guitar build is going great (despite the frigid weather) and tomorrow is “touch-up” and “Tru-oil” day where I apply the first coat of tru-oil.



I’m wondering if there are any unspoken tricks to applying tru-oil I might not of come across on YouTube etc. I’m planning to use a “French polish” method where I firmly apply a thin coat (about 3 in all is planned unless I think otherwis) to avoid drips etc. I’m also not planning to sand in between coats. Finally I’m going to buff the final coat so that it shines, unless it appears not to need it once the 3rd coat is done.

Thanks!

PS. Tomorrow might also be “go buy a soldering gun” day as I can’t for the life of me find the one that’s suppose to be here.

 

[kramersteen]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

Looking at those pictures i would say it has already got a finish on it? If so that would have to come off before any oil goes on.

Nice project.

 

[Greyum]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

Looking at those pictures i would say it has already got a finish on it? If so that would have to come off before any oil goes on.

Nice project.

Nope, just oil-based stain. No finish.

Completed the touch-ups so now waiting for it to dry then starting tru-oil finish

 

[VinceT]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

I’ve found with Tru Oil, the main things are to make each coat as thin as possible, and allow it to lose its tackiness between coats.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

Plan on more than three coats. Wiping it on allows for very thn coats, so you will need several to build up enough finish to level and buff. Your first coat will soak into wood and dry fairly quick, then as you apply coats, more time between them is needed. Tru oil has no heavy odor, so you can apply it indoors and it will dry faster.

 

[Greyum]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

Plan on more than three coats. Wiping it on allows for very thn coats, so you will need several to build up enough finish to level and buff. Your first coat will soak into wood and dry fairly quick, then as you apply coats, more time between them is needed. Tru oil has no heavy odor, so you can apply it indoors and it will dry faster.

First coat down, waiting for it to dry to apply the second coat. It’s pretty thin coat so perhaps 4-5 coats might be needed.
So second coat before bed then two more tomorrow. I’m keeping it indoors in its box to dry and keep the oder down.

No photo because it just looks the same but “wetter” so perhaps before the second coat.

 

[Greyum]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

Okay so the second tru-oil coat is on the front & sides. First thing tomorrow is the back coats,
View attachment 85746

 

[Snoogles]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

you'll probably get a lot of different advice, but here was my method:
apply tru oil in thin layers
layer 1, wait 1 hour
layer 2, wait 1 hour
layer 3, wait 24 hours
repeat until you start building up a base. the first few layer will soak into the wood.
then after layers 1, 2, and 3, and waiting 24 hours, you do a light wet sanding to smooth out the orange peel effect
you have to wait long enough for the tru oil to cure long enough so that the wet sanding doesnt gum up the tru oil if its still a little too tacky. i think i used 600 grit at this stage? maybe 1200?
repeat this as much as you want.
i think my jackson had about 30+ layers total.
towards the end, you can dilute the tru oil with paint thinner, just to get the coats that much thinner.
then after you're satisfied that you've applied all the coats you want, you wait a couple weeks, and then do a final wet sanding going thru 1200 grit, to 2000, and then what ever is the next finer grit (4000?)
then buff/polish with a swirl remover (3m finese-it 2, maguires swirl remover 2.0, nu finish SR, etc)
put a little dab on a micro fiber cloth, rub it in to the cloth and then start polishing the finish.
you can do this 3-4 times and it should get shinier and shinier each time.
i tried using maguires Show Car Glaze. which is supposed to be the next step after the swirl remover. but i couldn't tell a difference
but make sure you wait long enough for the tru oil to cure well enough, or you'll fudge it up

i tried to take a picture of my guitar, but the lighting is really crappy. wouldn't do it justice

then if it goes dull after a while, just give it another go with the swirl remover and watch it come back to life

 

[Greyum]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

you'll probably get a lot of different advice, but here was my method:
apply tru oil in thin layers
layer 1, wait 1 hour
layer 2, wait 1 hour
layer 3, wait 24 hours
repeat until you start building up a base. the first few layer will soak into the wood.
then after layers 1, 2, and 3, and waiting 24 hours, you do a light wet sanding to smooth out the orange peel effect
you have to wait long enough for the tru oil to cure long enough so that the wet sanding doesnt gum up the tru oil if its still a little too tacky. i think i used 600 grit at this stage? maybe 1200?
repeat this as much as you want.
i think my jackson had about 30+ layers total.
towards the end, you can dilute the tru oil with paint thinner, just to get the coats that much thinner.
then after you're satisfied that you've applied all the coats you want, you wait a couple weeks, and then do a final wet sanding going thru 1200 grit, to 2000, and then what ever is the next finer grit (4000?)
then buff/polish with a swirl remover (3m finese-it 2, maguires swirl remover 2.0, nu finish SR, etc)
put a little dab on a micro fiber cloth, rub it in to the cloth and then start polishing the finish.
you can do this 3-4 times and it should get shinier and shinier each time.
i tried using maguires Show Car Glaze. which is supposed to be the next step after the swirl remover. but i couldn't tell a difference
but make sure you wait long enough for the tru oil to cure well enough, or you'll fudge it up

i tried to take a picture of my guitar, but the lighting is really crappy. wouldn't do it justice

then if it goes dull after a while, just give it another go with the swirl remover and watch it come back to life

Not sure about 30 layers but I’ll try the wet-sand approach. Do you wet with water or tru-oil? I have 600 grit dry/wet sand paper which I’ve mainly be using wet (with oil based stain) when I was working on the stain.

 

[Greyum]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???


With iPhone flash, wet from coat #3 (I woke up late at night. So I checked it and it was dry so I tossed another coat on).

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

Good tips above!

I build up a few layers and give them a good 24-48 hours to dry before sanding. 600 is a bit rough imo and you are only looking to smooth the surface in preparation for more oil. I use 3200 micromesh to just knock down the rough spots. You can use water, but just enough to keep the paper clean.

 

[Greyum]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

Good tips above!

I build up a few layers and give them a good 24-48 hours to dry before sanding. 600 is a bit rough imo and you are only looking to smooth the surface in preparation for more oil. I use 3200 micromesh to just knock down the rough spots. You can use water, but just enough to keep the paper clean.

I’ll see if I can buy higher grain sandpaper, I also have 000 steel wool.

 

[Greyum]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???


3rd coat on the back (so three front, three back) and 5th coat on the headstock as it’s taking longer to dry.

4th coat will go on tonight then I’m waiting until tomorrow to sand/buff before the final coat before I build the guitar to test it before the end of the holidays.

After that I may do another coat & buff later in the new year once it has time to “settle”, but I only have access to all the tools until the 3rd, after that it’s just core hand tools so I want to double check the build/sound etc.

I’m also running the a fan to drop the partial pressure of the off gas and boost air flow for oxygen uptake and curing. After 4 days of outdoors work and fridge cold I need to make up some of the lost time.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

3200 micromesh is the same as 1200 grit paper, but you can use 1000 as well. You just don't want to use something so coarse that it removes the thin layers. All you are doing is knocking off the fuzz at this point.

Don't try and even anything out at this point with the sandpaper, just knock off anything that is not smooth to the touch and apply more oil. You will start to get an idea of how much depth you want at that point.

I would not use steel wool myself.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

I’ll see if I can buy higher grain sandpaper, I also have 000 steel wool.

NEVER use steel wool. NEVER!!! It's of the devil. Use Scotchbrite for gawds sake. It won't rust, break off in tiny crumbs (that get into electronics), or poke and hurt your hands.

 

[Greyum]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

3200 micromesh is the same as 1200 grit paper, but you can use 1000 as well. You just don't want to use something so coarse that it removes the thin layers. All you are doing is knocking off the fuzz at this point.

Don't try and even anything out at this point with the sandpaper, just knock off anything that is not smooth to the touch and apply more oil. You will start to get an idea of how much depth you want at that point.

I would not use steel wool myself.

Understood, just the lightest of sanding to remove any bumps.

NEVER use steel wool. NEVER!!! It's of the devil. Use Scotchbrite for gawds sake. It won't rust, break off in tiny crumbs (that get into electronics), or poke and hurt your hands.

Okay, no steel wool!

 

[Snoogles]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

Not sure about 30 layers but I’ll try the wet-sand approach. Do you wet with water or tru-oil? I have 600 grit dry/wet sand paper which I’ve mainly be using wet (with oil based stain) when I was working on the stain.

30 may be a bit overkill
you can wet sand with either. i don't remember which i used.
tru oil is extremely forgivable, and fixable.
i got my guitar to 95%, and then completely screwed up. had to sand back to bare wood twice.

 

[alex73013]

Re: Applying Tru-Oil Tricks???

I've found just limiting myself to one coat a day is the best. Maybe my first Tru Oil guitar I screwed it up or something trying to do two coats a day. But it seems like just doing one coat a day makes a smoother and shinier finish for me. Also, my first Tru Oil guitar I used steel wool and that was a big mistake. There were a couple spots where the steel wool got stuck in the finish because I didn't remove it all with a tack cloth. Now, I just use a scotch pad that my hardware store sells. They sell a green one which is labeled as fine and a gray one that is extra fine and I just go with the extra fine.