How to finish tru oil

[PShilling]

Howdie all.

I’ve done (I think) about a dozen coats of tru oil on my body so far.

What is the best way to finish from here? I see some people buff with a cutting compound.. is that the best way?

If yes which product is good for that?

And one more question.. sorry I’m a noob... should I also buff with a wax to finish?

I’m working on an ES-5v


Peter


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[jonwhitear]

There are a number of ways to finish TO, and it really boils down to personal preference.

Some will say that you shouldn't need any polishing - your final coat of TO should be good enough as is. You might find that applying some thinned (50/50 TO/turps) final coats helps to achieve a glossy finish. Personally, I find that I'm incapable of applying TO and achieving a perfectly level finish without irregularities creeping in (like dust etc.) so I do polish. I wet sand with 1200 grit, being careful not to get any water into bridge post holes etc, and also avoiding edges and the dreaded sand through, and then use Maguires auto polish (Scratch X / Ultimate).

I do also use wax. If you do, it's best to steer clear of anything with silicone in it. I've read that wax can attract dirt, so again, YMMV.

[PShilling]

Thanks Jon


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[Fretworn]

I never bother going to that extent with my guitars. I tend to give it a final sand with a piece of A4 printer paper and this works for me. But I’m never after a glass finish (I think they just show up fingerprints I’ll be constantly wanting to rub off and this will distract from playing). So as Jon said, first you have to decide what finish you want - high gloss or satin.

[McCreed]

I’ve done (I think) about a dozen coats of tru oil on my body so far.

Keep going. With some things, less is more. In this case more is better. In the end you'll glad you did the extra coats.

I've said this in many posts here but, 24 coats is my minimum with Tru Oil. Even at 24, this does not give a thick-looking poly/nitro appearance. It looks great, but is still ultra thin compared to many other finishes.

What is the best way to finish from here? I see some people buff with a cutting compound.. is that the best way?

Tru Oil is not very different than any other finish when it comes to polishing. It should be allowed to cure a minimum of 7-14 days. Then it can wet sanded or polished. I prefer wet sanding with 3M Micro-mesh, followed by polishing with 3M Micro-Gloss polish (all by hand).
Those are just the products I like and not the ones you have to use. There are many paths to achieving the same result, so what is "best" is what works best for you.

I will add that, generally speaking, hand applied top coats (Tru Oil, wipe-on poly etc) are pretty flat to begin with so I will start with a fairly fine grit paper/sanding cloth. Maybe as fine as 1200, but will go down in grit if needed, then work up. Hand-applied top coats don't get orange peel like sprayed finishes are prone to, so surface defects are usually minimal.

[wazkelly]

TO coats are usually quite thin hence why so many are required to get to a level that you might be happy with. On builds 5 & 6 I reckon they would have more than 40 or possibly even 50 coats as I experimented a lot with diluting it down with turps, 50:50 initially from around coats 16 - 24 or higher. On my last build I got lazy and needed to speed things up and went with just a few drops of turps which I reckon gave me 90:10 or maybe 80:20 ratio which was just enough to thin it out to make it spread a bit better as full strength can misbehave once things get really shiny.

Another trick I used was applying TO with 800 or 1200 (and sometimes 1500) grit wet & dry paper rather than a small cotton square as that did both a wet sand and coat application in the same process, and wow, did it come up way smoother so much quicker.

It pays to experiment, allow enough time for coats to cure and fully dry before any form of sanding and polishing, and if you make a mistake it is only a solid wet sanding session away from getting back on track.

Cheers, Waz

[HarmonIser]

@McCreed
So, you're saying you can take up to a year to apply sufficient Truoil finishes?
That's incredible patience - I'm struggling to wait a few weeks to start playing a newly built guitar! Also, I like Satin, so i definitely wouldn't be applying more than a handful of top coats.
My patience to actually get started on a build, though - that's another story....

[McCreed]

So, you're saying you can take up to a year to apply sufficient Truoil finishes?

No, not at all.
In good conditions (temperature & humidity) I get 4-5 coats per day on. So simple maths is 7 days for 28 coats. My minimum time to cure before wet sanding is 10-14 days. So at the outset, the total time from start to finish is 3 weeks.

Of course, that is in a perfect world and doesn't account for outside influences (like life, work, family, weather).

[wazkelly]

Just like wine or whisky they need time to mature and come good, same deal with guitar finish.
Poor quality of a rushed job will continually eat away at you long after you complete a fast finish.
Best to take a little bit of extra time and have some patience to help you feel proud of what you have created.

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[HarmonIser]

@McCreed:
I misunderstood, and took the curing time, to be the wait between coats....
You can tell I've done lots of work on guitar finishing - lol...

@wazkelly:
My first build was a Tele Thinline clone, made with (I think) Radiata back, and King Billy Pine top, and I just applied a few coats of Feast n Watson Scandinavian Oil, and then sprayed a couple layers of Cabot's Cabothane Clear Satin. It's super thin, as you'd imagine, and already the dings and marks are appearing where I have accidentally dropped it, but is sounds incredibly resonant, and I don't want to mess with that. I'm fine with a guitar that's got battle-scars (my yardstick is my naturally battle-scarred 1970 Strat), so the Tele has a very long way to go...