robs TL-1TH build

[robin]

Well, I have finally finished the body and neck with Tru-Oil.

Unfortunately in my ignorance of how to get a good finish I ended up applying 18 coats of Oil. I know where I went wrong so next time I'm hoping to be able to get a similar result with about half as many coats. Live and learn.

Because I sanded down to 600 grit, I was able to polish the wood around the worst of the glue stains and the Oil has blended in quite nicely around the horn cutout and in the right light the glue almost looks like a grain feature. The ugly knot holes I just filled with plain Timbermate, and as the worst of these is in the lap contour it will hardly be seen any way.

As mentioned before, I didn’t touch the glue on the fretboard as any sanding or tampering with that could have been a disaster, but again the Oil has tempered it a bit, but unfortunately not as much as the sanded areas. Although noticeable it is yet just another character trait of my beautiful, but flawed Tele Thinline.

All in all, I’m happy with the progress so far, final assembly will start soon, so fingers crossed.

I’ve included some photos of the finished body in the same order as the original photos posted above to give a before and after comparison.

rob

1. Fretboard Glue
2. Horn Cutout Glue
3. Output repair and glue

[robin]

and a few more

1. Lap Contour glue and filler
2. Back filler
3. The top finish

[Brendan]

Robin - love it - even with something that has a few knots and character traits to it, you've come up with something beautiful. You going to share the lowdown on how to apply tru oil, so when we give it a go we don't end up with 18 coats?

[Gavin1393]

Where did you get the Tru-oil? Looks beautiful mate! Lucky for me your finished tele probably wont make it to GOTM as it's likely to be hi-jacked on its way.....

[keloooe]

hahah Gav, poor DB got his hijacked in March, but at least Adam loves it!!!

[robin]

Quote from Brendan on June 3, 2013, 21:32
Robin - love it - even with something that has a few knots and character traits to it, you've come up with something beautiful. You going to share the lowdown on how to apply tru oil, so when we give it a go we don't end up with 18 coats?

Hi Brendan,

FIRST A CAVEAT. I am a complete novice and have only used Tru-Oil once before and that was on the neck of my first guitar kit. So be warned, free advice is sometimes worth exactly what you paid for it.

I researched everything I could find on the Net before starting this project and it would appear that everybody ends up using it the way that suits them. Its very easy to work with, you just have to find a way that works for you.

There are some absolutely stunning examples on the net, I tried their methods but they just didn't work for me.

So I am still on a learning curve so take EVERYTHING I say VERY cautiously.

1. Surface preparation is everything. I think I sanded too fine, but I went through the grades up to 600 grit. Every blemish, dent or mark will be shown up by Tru-Oil. So, take DB's mantra on sanding and double it! I THINK finer sanding is OK with TO as it is not a stain and doesn't seem to need any "bite" in the wood.

2. I THINK I should have pore filled first. I have absolutely no experience with pore fillers, so I gave it a miss, but it can be done with TO.

3. I started by tying to apply the TO too thick with my fingers. After several coats I ended up applying it with small (approx. 60x60mm) pieces of cotton T-shirt material. One of the quotes I remember reading was "am I wiping it on, or rubbing it off". That's how thin the coats should be.

4. If the weather is good you can apply 3 coats of TO a day. I only lightly sanded at the beginning of each day, so every 3rd coat. After about a dozen coats I started fine sanding with 1000 for a day, 1500 the next and finally 2000. I THINK I should have started the fine sanding earlier, maybe after 4 or 5 coats.

5. After the 18th coat and still not getting the finish that the pros were getting, I decided it was pointless just adding more coats. I had to try something new.

LIGHTBULB MOMENT!!!

6. I needed a cutting compound! What did I have handy? Brasso. I have no idea what that stuff will do to the TO finish over time, SO BE WARNED. I trialled it on a small area to be covered by the Scratch Plate, and instant success.

7. I had some swirl marks left after the Brasso, so what's a cutting compound that's finer than Brasso I hear you say? That's easy, Silvo. Again, no idea what that will do to the TO over time, but it removed the swirl marks.

And that's about it. Easy, Peazy.

Hopefully the next time I use TO I will refine my technique a bit and get a better result, but for a first time effort I'm pretty happy.

Hope this helps,

rob

My secret potion:

[robin]

Quote from Gavin1393 on June 3, 2013, 22:00
Where did you get the Tru-oil? Looks beautiful mate! Lucky for me your finished tele probably wont make it to GOTM as it's likely to be hi-jacked on its way.....

Hi Gav,

Tru-Oil is a gun stock oil. I tried a few gun shops in Brisbane but they only had small bottles, and I wasn't too sure how much I needed so looked on eBay.

I think it would be cheaper to buy it locally, but the cheapest I could find on fleaBay was a place called Magnum Sports, I think they are in NSW. I bought an 8oz (??ml) bottle. I have done 2 necks and now 1 body and still have a some left in the bottle. If I can cut down on my OCD'ish 18 coats I might be able to get another guitar out of it.

rob

[Brendan]

Gav - there's a gun shop out near your mates @ Joondalup Music - round the other side of Winton Ave.

Robin - bad news - don't have brasso - good news I do have Silvo! What's the surface like - I'm assuming its dry and doesn't soak into whatever you're wearing?

As for the cost of the advice - this is all a learning curve - and the best way to learn is through mistakes and if I can save time / money learning from others' then I'm ahead, so thanks for the advice - the guitar does pop!

[robin]

Quote from Brendan on June 4, 2013, 09:09
Gav - there's a gun shop out near your mates @ Joondalup Music - round the other side of Winton Ave.

Robin - bad news - don't have brasso - good news I do have Silvo! What's the surface like - I'm assuming its dry and doesn't soak into whatever you're wearing?

As for the cost of the advice - this is all a learning curve - and the best way to learn is through mistakes and if I can save time / money learning from others' then I'm ahead, so thanks for the advice - the guitar does pop!

Brendan, I read a good one the other day "Learn from other peoples mistakes, you'll never live long enough to make them all yourself."

I think Tru-Oil is called a wipe on vanish. So it obviously dries to a hard(ish) dry varnish like finish. It is touch dry within about 30 minutes or so. The instructions on the bottle say that it is dry enough to put on next coat in about 2 to 3 hours. So I start early in th emorning, second coat just before lunch and third coat late afternoon.

My guess about the hardness of the finish would put it somewhere between Wudtone and a store bought guitar, whatever finish that is. So it's not going to take too many hard knocks, but it feels pretty durable. Probably not the best finish for a hard working band unless "relic" is your style.

I didn't want to go too savage with a cutting compound so I tried Silvo first but it was not course enough to gloss the finish. So then I tried Brasso, magic. The Silvo came in very handy as a swirl remover.

My local Woolworths up here in Brissie stocks both Brasso and Silvo. Cheap as. But as we are usually about 100 years and 1 hour behind you southerners for half the year they may not stock it down there.

rob

[Brendan]

Yes, in WA, we are worried that if we have daylight savings, we'll confuse the cows, fade the curtains and overall get less time to our families :? ...

BTW - thanks for that - great blow by blow... :P

Saw a description of Rickenbackers that describes how they have gloss fretboards - this looks like just the thing.