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Hi friends,

I am close to finishing #1. I am currently pore filling with egg whites (a fruastrating learning experience, but that is for another thread), and have thought about using French Polish for the finish since I have the materials already, enjoy the not-so-dangerous chemicals used and the not having to purchase/learn spray equip for my first.

BUT, after finishing my neck with Tru Oil, I am really considering using it for the whole body too. I put a little on a non-pore filled sample of IRW and it really makes the color/grain pop. I remember reading somewhere on here that a few have tried this before, but I can't find anything about it in the archives.

My questions are:
Is Tru Oil a descent finish for #1?
How hard is it to get a relatively nice gloss? (Do you, and How do you buff it out?)
How durable is it? (I have read about how delicate FP can be)

As usual, thank you all so much. I really value and appreciate this forum because of the awesome advice and experience you guys so generously give.

justin

Hi, Justin,

I used tru-oil for the body of my first (and only so far) guitar, and I was very pleased with the results. I rubbed the finish out by hand using micromesh pads. This was a bit tedious, but not hard, and didn't really take that long.


Here's some pictures of the finish:







Joe

jmp - how many coats was that and how much time between coats?

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

I didn't count the coats, but at least 12 or 15. Each coat is only a very small amount of finish. Following the directions on the bottle, you just rub a thin coat on and let it dry. You can apply a new coat within 4 hours (if I recall.) Once the film is as thick as you want you can level it and polish. I let the last coat dry for a week before polishing. You can also use it to fill pores by level sanding after each coat, but I used the egg white method first. If I had done a better job of that I think I could have gotten away with fewer coats.

Tru-oil is actually an oil/varnish ("short-oil" varnish?) so that's why it can build a coating, if my understanding of it is correct. If you have a gun shop or sporting goods store nearby, you can get it for a lot less than LMI sells it, by the way. I definitely plan to use it on my next build.

Joe

you can get it at Walmart too.

I figured it was that much. I used TruOil on my number 2 but didn't use nearly as many coats as I was going for a Satin look. Micro meshed to 1200 (I think). Here's a photo of the back. This guitar was sealed with a 2lb cut of amber shellac so with the addition of the TruOil it really has an amber appearance all the way around.

I personally think TruOil is an overlooked finish but that's just me.

Chris

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

Chris , What did you fill the pores with on that guitar ?

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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I used Behlen's Natural Pore-O-Pac tinted with VanDyke Brown pigment from homesteadfinishing.com....thinned with about 10% VM&P Naptha.

Chris

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

TO is almost all I use on necks, I like it quite a lot. Did either of you guys use Tru Oil on the soundboard?

The instinct is to NOT do this - oil penetrates after all and could cause damping of the top - but my impression is that Tru Oil - being more like a varnish - does not penetrate nearly has much as a real oil and might be OK for a soundboard.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

As a general rule for my finishing tastes....EVERYTHING gets sealer coats of shellac. Somewhere between a 1 and 2 pound cut depending on what I'm sealing. There is TruOil on the top of my second but not nearly as many as the back and sides.

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

I used Tru-oil on the top also, and like Chris, I sealed it first with 2 coats of shellac. (I sealed the back and sides with shellac also.) Ditto on the fewer coats for the top vs. back and sides.

Joe

Wow, thank you guys so much!

Chris and joe - your guitars look great to me so I am excited to try Tru Oil on my first. I am still pore filling with egg whites at the moment, but will then seal with Shellac and move on to TO.

Thanks again everyone!

I have used True-oil on my first 2 aswell. looks great. Just be in a place without to much dust !! .

Lars.

I used truoil over shellac on the top as well and love it.

Cheers

Kim

I have used Tru-Oil on my first 4 (Number 4 just finished). I have used Z-poxy to fill holes, followed by maybe 12 -15 coats of TU and "buffed" with Micro-Mesh. I have generally liked the finish, but I wonder if it is kinda soft. It seems like it dents fairly easily. I'm wondering if there is another finish that is as easy to apply as TU, but might hold up better...

I have used Tru-Oil on several guitars. I don't try to build or achieve gloss. I also don't fill pores and opt for a Open Pore finish. I first prep by polishing wood to 12,000 micromesh, then apply finish. As for penetrating, the key is only apply to a very small area and wipe it off. I apply about 3 coats to back and sides as you don't want the shiny spots when Tru-oil gets in pores. You can apply more to top, but always remember to apply small area and wipe off on all coats. After complete and cured a week or more I lightly burnish with 0000 steel wool and polish with 6000, 8000, and 12000 Micro mesh.

There is a good article im LMI catalog/handbook by Bill Woods, that pretty well describes same process. That is where I came up with it.

Here are couple pictures of a Koa/Engleman OM. I like the way the wood is not obscured and the colors really come out.

I will try to post couple of close-ups if anybody is interested

Justin: Have never used Truoil but have used polymerized tung oil.On some rosewoods the tung oil causes a problem,does not dry well and stays sticky. Don't ask me how I know this...! Take the advise of the other guys and seal with shellac,spray if you can,I find it easier to get an even coat this way.Have used the polmerized tung oil on mahogany with out a sealer with good results but it's a less durable then nitro. Good Luck Tom.

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

True dat - Tru Oil will NOT dry on cocobolo. Dries fine on East Indian RW - I dunno about other RWs.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

I have finished I think to date 7-8 coco guitars with tru oil and not a problem with getting dry or hard. I have used it on several other guitars and dulcimer using various other woods. I do a slush fill for the the pores with shellac or true oil itself. One is on Bob Cef's site and that is after just slush fills and maybe couple coats but not buffed or polished out. I just know puts on a nice finish and drys relative hard, but I let them cure awhile before polishing or buffing.

On EIR and Cocobolo, USE SHELLAC AS A SEALER. I tried to put on Truoil without and had to sand it all of as it never dried !!! So Seal good first. actually I tried to put on truoil twice and both times is never dried.

As to beon the sure side. Seal good.

Lars

I use Shellac as a sealer on my soundboards and Zpoxy as a pour filler and sealer on my Backs and sides and then apply TruOil. Great finish

Mike Spencer
White Oak, Texas

anyone have any suggestions for succesfully searching for all tru oil references on this forum? the search function seems to not be able to handle 3 letter words. tried tru oil, "tru oil" tru+oil, and many others...

I've commented on this from day one on the new forum. Well it may have taken a day or two until I noticed it. I really feel this needs to be changed. Its just a setting in the programming. You cant search for something like "koa". There are a lot of three letter words that I've wanted to search on.

Where is Colin S when we need him?

http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=20692&hilit=oil+finish

"...The most important thing is to apply each coat very, very thinly. I have had just as good results using ordinary kitchen tissue paper. Just invert the bottle on the paper and before applying go the wood, ensure that the oil has been absorbed into the paper rather than just sitting on the surface. Wipe on with the grain very thinly as I said. Two or three sessions day, until 8-12 coats have been applied, leave to harden for a few day, then I rub out any marks with rottenstone in walnut oil. Buff with auto swirl remover if needed and job done. I have never used abrasives on an oil finish as if applied in thin enough coats no levelling is needed."

hope that gives you a helping hand


Jonny

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"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order." Douglas Adams

You can also buy TruOil in spray cans, which I discovered more or less by accident when I ordered a can through my neighborhood hardware store. For my purposes, this turned out to be happy accident, but it might or might not suit others. Depending on your specific needs, it may be sprayed on a rag and then wiped on, it may be sprayed on the wood, and then wiped off, or it may be sprayed in thin coats and left to dry. Each subsequent coat will SLIGHTLY soften the previous coat, which I think is an advantage. I let TruOil harden a long time before polishing it--a month or so. It actually gets quite hard in that length of time, although probably not as hard as lacquer. In my view, the greatest thing about TruOil is that it is almost infinitely repairable. You buff out a scratch with ultra fine steel wool (or your favorite option), clean everything fastidiously, and wipe on another thin coat of oil. Presto! It really is just about that easy. Makes a real nice , repairable table top finish, too. Remember that it was originally developed as a gun stock finish. Few items are more abused than the stock of a well-worn shotgun. Guitars do get a lot of wear and tear, but they are seldom carried through thorny weeds, over barb wire fences, carried in the rain, or stepped on by Labrador Retrievers while lying on the floor of a duck boat. TruOil is tough enough to take a lot of abuse.