Next step is to apply the finish. We've decided to go with Tru Oil, as we want a thick glossy finish, and lots of coats of Tru Oil seems to be a popular way to accomplish that. The color was very flat and plain looking after it dried, but luckily the very first coat of Tru Oil began to allow the grain and the beauty of the wood to show through.
I've been away from the shop, so my father built a rig to suspend the assembled guitar, to allow for putting oil on the entire thing at once. We didn't want to have to deal with doing the front, letting it dry, then doing the back--if we didn't have to.
My father writes:
"It became pretty evident after applying the first coat of TO to our bass that instead of waiting for either side to dry why not make something to suspend it and be able to apply a coat to the entire guitar.
Construction was pretty simple. we took to short pieces of 5/16 rod, bent into a J and threaded the ends. Next was to drill a piece of bar stock to mount the hooks and a third to secure the center pin, this was threaded on one end the other welded into the bar holding the J hooks. You will also note at the top I drilled a hole for a pin, a safety measure just in case the nuts loosened enough to let the rod slip out and all come crashing to the floor, something I suspect would not happen till the very last coat was applied. and I added the "accessory" T bar for easy rotation while oiling. This will also work for a six-a-side headstock simply by making one hook longer to suspend using two holes.
I attached my holder to a beam in the shop, other suggestions may be the end of a kitchen cabinet, drill some holes in the side of your refrigerator attaching with easily obtained sheet metal screws, this would allow easy and quick access to a beer(grog) while working, any door, even the shower but I'd caution that you may not be able to bathe while finishing your guitar. The options are endless, good luck."
Now to solder together some wiring while we apply a couple of dozen coats of Tru Oil.
If there are any pitfalls upcoming that might catch us off guard, we're very happy for any advice from folks who have been down this road before. This forum has been a great help to us so far. It's nice that there are so many folks out there eager to help each other when trouble arises!
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