TLA-1 First Build

[king casey]

I haven't used dingotone, but I have used Tru-Oil on both the body and the neck.


The decal won't stick to bare wood so you'll have to put at least one coat on first.
You can put many coats on over the top of it to give plenty of headroom for sanding/polishing back.

cheers, Mark.

[Fretworn]

Tru-oil will be your top coat if you are using it. If you are staining with Dingotone, do the colour coats, but don’t use the top coat, the Tru-oil will take it’s place.

[wazkelly]

Yes, I had forgotten that important step. A few questions:

Can I use the same clear coat I plan to use on the body (Dingotone)?
Does it go on top of the Tru-Oil final coat?
Should I apply to the decal and adjacent area only or to the entire face of the headstock?

Thank you for the tip. I will update the doc as I learn.

Great starter kit as it is very simple, has no binding, and sometimes you end up with amazing Ash grain to work with.

If using Dingo Tone you need to be very, very patient between applying each coat. I used it on builds #1 & #2 but had dramas with top coat and ended up using Tru Oil which was so much easier to use. Don't know if DT would stick if applied on top of TO? Tend to think not as it doesn't have the same varnish type properties as found with TO.

With any decals, best to get a few coats of finish down before sticking one on. If using water slide transfer paper I would recommend leaving a lot of clear in the background so that you can cut a sheet slightly bigger than headstock shape rather than trimming to just size of text as that tends show edge lines no matter how many layers of finish are on top. The full sheet once dried can be trimmed off with a sharp blade at the 90 degree edges, and then cut out for the tuning pegs where those edges will be covered by retaining washers. Worked a treat on build # 5 where I printed in reverse to create a black headstock face to place over silver/chrome sparkle to show up as the logo script. Should have used a Laser printer as ink jet was not dark enough.

Edit: Forgot to mention you will probably need 4 - 6 coats on top of decals, maybe more, to allow for some to disappear when doing final sanding and polishing. Plenty other folks have accidentally sanded through and it is not hard to do.

[mcamelo]

So it sounds like I definitely want to use TO on top of the decals. Having never used TO before, I had the impression that it would not cure on top on the plastic decal but looks like I was mistaken? If it will cure then it is a no-brainer.

On the topic of DT clear coat vs. TO on the body, if TO will give me similar results with less pain and frustration then I should probably be using it on the body too. In that case, my next question is: will the 90ml bottle be enough for 6+ coats on both neck and body?

[king casey]

will the 90ml bottle be enough for 6+ coats on both neck and body?

Tru-Oil goes on fairly thinly so there should be plenty in a 90ml bottle.
Waz also thins his down with turps (or metho?) sure he'll be along to elucidate.

cheers, Mark.

[wazkelly]

Small bottle of TO is plenty for one build, even allowing for up to 20 coats or more.
A word of caution using TO....it adds a slight amber tint to everything and seems to take on an aged look pretty quickly, like within 12 to 18 months it does darken a bit more. Best not to use TO over blue as it will inevitably end up green over time. All good on red, brown, yellow, and natural warm tones.

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[wazkelly]

Tru-Oil goes on fairly thinly so there should be plenty in a 90ml bottle.
Waz also thins his down with turps (or metho?) sure he'll be along to elucidate.

cheers, Mark.

Yeah, you can thin it down with humble mineral turps.
Over several builds i have done things slightly differently and reckon best to lay at least 6-8 full strength coats before initial 1200 grit wet sand. Not so sure about applying TO with wet & dry paper as it can leave multiple uneven layers that only show up when doing a robust wet sanding session.
From 8th coat i would suggest adding a few drops of turps to a small amount of TO to slightly thin it down as my previous 50:50 ratio was too watery and prone to introducing runs. Once you have done 12 time for 1500 wet sand and then next couple of coats done full strength. From here, just alternate a couple of full strength followed by slightly diluted, then wet sand with 2000 grit from coat 16 and up.
Somewhere around 20 coats it will feel smooth and hopefully have enough thickness to sacrifice some layers in the final sand & polishing process.
Sounds like a lot of work but much quicker and easier than using DT.

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[mcamelo]

And how long should I be waiting in between TO coats?

[wazkelly]

Couple of hours during warm to hot weather, maybe 4-8 hours in really cold weather.
If wanting to get stuck into it you could do one before work another when you get home, then another just before going to bed. On weekends you could also add another coat around lunch time too.

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[mcamelo]

Alright. I'm sold on finishing the body in TO, too. Thank you for all the guidance. I will soon update the doc with what I've learned.

One related question: assuming I am doing the back of the neck and headstock in TO, what is the best finish (and method) to use on the fingerboard (maple)?