Run out of Tru Oil after 38 coats and awaiting new supply.
It is 3 weeks since my last report and I have been tru-oiling and sanding for 38 coats and reckon I will need maybe another 10.
I sanded the guitar down to 340 grit and then did two wet wipes with meth to lift the grain (I don't like water with wood). I noticed the black v grain lifted surprisingly high so sanded smooth again. Then another wet coat of metho and up the black grain came again but nowhere near as high so sanded smooth again.
Then I applied three coats of black Timbermate, sanding with 340 between coats.
Then the first coat of ColorTone Mahogany Red mixed in metho 15:1. I noticed the black grain liftted a little but expected that it could be filled with the planned 30 coats of Tru-oil (needed 30 on the LP). Two more coats of stain and grain looked great but the large v shaped grains lifted further. But too late now. Expected that they would fill with the tru-oil
Away I went with the Tru-0il. Three good coats and the first sand off with a dry Scothbrite Grey. The ScotchBrite is 600-800 grit but I have found it much gentler on the finish than 1200 wet and dry. From the third coat it did a light sand with Scotchbrite between each coat. After about each 10 coats I found I needed the 1200 wet with turps for an extra flat smooth off.
The smaller grain was not filling as quickly as I expected even after the Timbermate. I think maybe next time I will sand the Timbermate with 600 to leave it smoother. Others might like to comment on this idea. I have noticed there is a bit of a different view on the forum about much bite you need to leave for the finish.
The valleys between the raised big v gain were not filling. So after 18 coats I decided to just pour the Tru-Oil into the valleys to fill them. Had to do that three times but now I had an almost glass finish. By the time I got to 30 coats all the valleys were nicely filled
The small grain had almost filled after the 38 coats.
I don’t have 38 layers of tru-oil on the high spots, only in the grain because I have had to sand down quite heavily to get closer to the low grain.
My next issue is that during my finishing process I put the scratch plate on for a look. I thought ‘I can’t cover all that beautiful grain with a big Tele scratchplate’ so I have decided to cut off the lower horn and shape the plate with a curve from near the switch to the lower screw near the neck.
I really don’t think I need the router for such a short cut. I was thinking of shaping the plate with drum sander on the drill press and then filing and sanding the bevel. I would appreciate any advice on this idea. I will do some testing shortly.
Reply With Quote