Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

[loudriver23]

Just a quick question on what you guys think the easiest, or rather hardest to screw up DIY guitar body finish would be.
I'm so jealous of the Strat #18 threads and such, but I'm always afraid of the finishing aspect. I would want to try something thinner and less restrictive than that poly I have on my current guitars.

 

[tc]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Tru-oil.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

I refin'd a yamaha EG112 from black poly to Dakota Red Nitro. It wasn't something I consider really hard, but slightly annoying and pretty time consuming. A lot of sanding, a lot of waiting, and the one point where I got a run in the paint kinda sucked. It's doable by anyone with enough space to spray nitro, enough money to get the right stuff (sandpaper, a block, grain sealer, sanding sealer, primer, nitro cans, clear cans, polish, a respirator mask), and some common sense, and time.
I had no prior painting skills and just by reading everything on reranch.com and asking some questions 'round here, I was able to do a passable job on my Eg112.

 

[loudriver23]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Tru-oil.

Can you stain the wood first then cover with Tru-oil?

 

[loudriver23]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

I refin'd a yamaha EG112 from black poly to Dakota Red Nitro. It wasn't something I consider really hard, but slightly annoying and pretty time consuming. A lot of sanding, a lot of waiting, and the one point where I got a run in the paint kinda sucked. It's doable by anyone with enough space to spray nitro, enough money to get the right stuff (sandpaper, a block, grain sealer, sanding sealer, primer, nitro cans, clear cans, polish, a respirator mask), and some common sense, and time.
I had no prior painting skills and just by reading everything on reranch.com and asking some questions 'round here, I was able to do a passable job on my Eg112.

I'd say the job is more than passable! Space might be an issue, although I do have a garage I could leave my car out of for a few months.

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Can you stain the wood first then cover with Tru-oil?

Yep, just use water-based stain. I've done it.

 

[loudriver23]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Do you need a grain filler first?

 

[80's_Metal]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

 

[Smilemon]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Tung oil is very cheap and effective. I used it on my budget strat project and it has help up very nicely to spills and it's easy to re apply if you get too many scratches. I put on about 4 coats of this sanding in between coats
http://www.amazon.com/Tung-Oil-Finish-67500-Qt/dp/B000Y4HNKC

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Tung oil is very cheap and effective. I used it on my budget strat project and it has help up very nicely to spills and it's easy to re apply if you get too many scratches. I put on about 4 coats of this sanding in between coats
http://www.amazon.com/Tung-Oil-Finish-67500-Qt/dp/B000Y4HNKC

How hard would it be to sand down the back of a neck and refinish it with tung oil? What are the steps for that?

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

How hard would it be to sand down the back of a neck and refinish it with tung oil? What are the steps for that?

probably just sand, apply, lightly sand, apply some more, sand with the finest grit you have, done? I haven't dont tung oil yet but it looks easy.

I refined that EG112's neck into gloss nitro just by sanding it, spraying it, then sanding up to 2000 and polishing with compound and an old sock.
Easy but it takes around a week and a half. 1 afternoon sanding, 4 or 5 days of spraying, 4 days of waiting, 1 afternoon of sanding/polishing.

I've done two necks in nitro now. The maple one was easier than the rosewood one. With maple you can just spray the frets and scrape them when done. You gotta tape off rosewood.

 

[muttznmongrelz]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Honestly...easiest...Flat Freakin' Black or one of those Textured Types. Quick, easy, functional.

That said...I was/am really happy w/the Oil Type Finish that I used on my Kramer Tele Custom.

 

[loudriver23]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Very cool looking guitar! Does the body feel oily at all? Or do the Tung, Tru, oil finishes dry more less hard?

 

[muttznmongrelz]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Thanks. No. This stuff (Formby's Tung Oil) is "self leveling" and dries hard and smooth pretty much like any other type of shellac finish.

Colored it w/Lemon Oil to a desired shade (Caramel IMHO) then I hand rubbed the first dozen coats of Tung Oil on and finished with another couple of light coats w/a sponge brush applicator. Light sanding when needed between coats. Buff as desired to sheen.

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Tung oil's an easy finish.

That minwax stuff, though, isn't great for guitar projects IMO. It's furniture stuff with extra additives that give it a bit of a glossy, sticky finish.

If you go tung oil, I suggest the PURE tung oil route. It dries as a smooth, matte finish.

Here's where I bought mine:

http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html

 

[CTN]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

Danish oil (another derivative of Tung oil) is also extremely easy to use and dries hard. Also, it doesn't take as many coats as Tung oil to finish a piece.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Easiest DIY guitar body finish?

thats a nice tele. You guys and your attractive grain patterns. The basswood on my yamaha was, well, ugly. Tung-oil was not an option if I wanted to be able to look at my guitar.