Wet Linseed Oil* Sanding/Filling

[Rabbitz]

Hi All,

A trick I have heard of for filling pores in timber - I was shown this by a gunsmith.

Was to apply a coat of "modified Linseed Oil finish*" and wet sand - the idea being that the sawdust becomes a filler within the "modified Linseed Oil finish".

Has anyone tried this, particularly with stained timber?

I am just running through finish ideas in my head...



* It is a well known finish that is quite popular in some areas but others aren't so enamoured of it. Apparently using it can lead to pizza and beer.

[andrewdosborne]

This is pretty much what I do with tru oil. After applying about 4 coats I wet sand using turps as a lubricant.


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[Rabbitz]

Hi Andrew - that is interesting. The method as described to me was to use the tru oil as the lubricant - i.e. sand while the oil is wet.

[andrewdosborne]

Hi Andrew - that is interesting. The method as described to me was to use the tru oil as the lubricant - i.e. sand while the oil is wet.

You can do that, last time I tried this the tru oil cured too quickly whilst sanding and it all got a bit funky (maybe temp to high at the time as summer). I mixed 50/50 with turps and it helped. I now wet sand 100% with turps

[gavinturner]

Yes I have tried wet sanding with TO as well. As Andrew said it starts to cure and gets thick and messy. You end up with a not so nice result IMO. Much better to do a very light wet sand with water and a drop of dish soap between thin coats. As soon as the coats get to thick that's when things go down hill, and that's what happened to me with the TO as wet sanding medium. Much better to fill the pores with Timbermate before you start with the TO.

cheers,
Gav.

[Rabbitz]

I guess this is a horses for courses thing.

As a rifle stock is smaller in surface area then it may work in that application. That is to say, as the areas to cover are smaller then the sanding is accomplished quicker - before the modified Linseed Oil finish starts to cure.

[andrewdosborne]

You could be spot on their Rabbitz. The landscape of the guitar is such that you work on one piece as it just starts to cure in others. Hard to keep the wet edge

Tell you what though Gav is the master of glassy finishes with TruOil so would follow his advice!

[dingobass]

And the giveaway clue here is gun stock.....
What works on a gun stock may not necessarily work on a musical instrument such as a Guitar...

I know, I know, peeps want fast results.. A sign of the times in which we live. We want it and we want it yesterday.
When building a Guitar, the longer you put into the finish the better. After a good setup, the finish is the next most important thing.
A rushed job will look like crap either straight away or a few years down the track it will start to show.

It may take two months to get a really shmick finish from sanding to buffing. (Fairly certatain that Jarrod takes this long and man, J-rods finishes are spectacular)
Two months on something that if built well will last two maybe three lifetimes.
That makes two months bugga all time, really.