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a little help please, tru oil questions


leopardstar

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I am building a tele with a beautiful mohognoy body thats capped with a very nice piece of maple. the red top was tru oiled by the ebay seller who said it was ready for a clear coat. the problem is that it seems to have some small brush/rag places where it almost looks like "drip" marks.

1. can I just add more tru oil then polish it smooth, then just leave it well sorta bare, or

2. fine sand it smooth then put on a coat of clear, or

3. just put the clear on it, and smooth finish the clear?

 

thanks

 

 

yes I know I haven't been around for a while but school is killing my time.

BTW; I got "A"'s in my class, and I have till tomarrow when I start a new class. I do miss you all though:wave:

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I've never used it - but tru-oil is not really an oil, it's more of a varnish.

 

I researched this a bit, and I used Minwax wipe-on poly. It was easy to control, and I think you can avoid drips. Minwax also makes spray on Poly for a glossier finish.

 

Good luck and hi to Aslan.

 

- w

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I've never used it - but tru-oil is not really an oil, it's more of a varnish.


I researched this a bit, and I used Minwax wipe-on poly. It was easy to control, and I think you can avoid drips. Minwax also makes spray on Poly for a glossier finish.


Good luck and hi to Aslan.


- w

 

Uhm, no, Tru-oil IS an oil.

 

it is a blend of linseed and "other" oils, but that is ALL it is, according to the ingredients on the bottle.

 

It forms polymers when it cures and dries hard as a rock if you put it on in thin layers enabling it to cure properly, but it IS made up of oils. REAL oils. It IS oil.

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I am building a tele with a beautiful mohognoy body thats capped with a very nice piece of maple. the red top was tru oiled by the ebay seller who said it was ready for a clear coat. the problem is that it seems to have some small brush/rag places where it almost looks like "drip" marks.

1. can I just add more tru oil then polish it smooth, then just leave it well sorta bare, or

2. fine sand it smooth then put on a coat of clear, or

3. just put the clear on it, and smooth finish the clear?


thanks



yes I know I haven't been around for a while but school is killing my time.

BTW; I got "A"'s in my class, and I have till tomarrow when I start a new class. I do miss you all though:wave:

If the Tru oil finish is pure tru oil and has nothing on top of it, you can wet sand the drips or blemishes out of it as long as they are protrusions and not gouges. If they are gouges, you may not be able to sand deep enough before you cause a trench or a depression, ar sand through to wood, but you certaily could always lay more layers over any depressions and then sand that out.

 

I would knock off any high spost with some fine grit sand paper, fill any low spots with the appropriate amount of THIN layes of truoil, allowing each layer to cure before adding the next, you MAY want to lightly sand with fine grit between layers, but personally I have never done that and never had a problem with one layer sticking to the next, and once you get enough layers built up to where everything is relatively smooyth and even, give a final sanding with finer and finer grit wet/dry paper to about 1500 grit, and then contnue on with something like Meguires scratch remover and then final polishing with some descent automotive polish, and continue till you get to your desired level of glossiness.

 

Because Tru-oil dries hard, you can pretty much polish it as glossy as you want all the way up to a mirror finish.

 

Alot of people like to wipe it on with rags or even their fingers, but I find the best way to get the smoothest finish without making a mess is to use cheap foam brushes you get in the piant department at places like Home Depot.

 

It can also be thinned and sprayed on.

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Uhm, no, Tru-oil IS an oil.


it is a blend of linseed and "other" oils, but that is ALL it is, according to the ingredients on the bottle.


It forms polymers when it cures and dries hard as a rock if you put it on in thin layers enabling it to cure properly, but it IS made up of oils. REAL oils. It IS oil.

 

 

Well yes. I should have said it does not behave like an oil in the way say lemon oil behaves. As you say it forms cures to a hard finish.

 

I think there are better options out there, but that is just IMHO.

 

- w

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Tru Oil is made from polymerized linseed and other natural oils and technically would be categorized as a wipe on varnish.

 

I use a combo of applying with a cotton swatch when building film thickness and wet sanding with 1000 grit and a spritz of mineral spirits between every 2 - 3 coats. Once a good level body is achieved, I spray the last 2 - 3 coats and wet sand with 1500 through 2000 after the last.

For a more satin / silky gloss, I'll spray one last coat, wait a week, then rub out with some stock and sheen product, its a fine pumice type substance in a liquid vehicle.

For a little shinier look, I'll do a thinned out wiped on glaze coat after the 2000 grit session, then buff the next day by hand with a micro fiber cloth.

I like Daves idea of a foam brush, I'll have to give that one a try.

Here is one I just finished up

 

.

cruiser-011.jpg

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Well yes. I should have said it does not behave like an oil in the way say lemon oil behaves. As you say it forms cures to a hard finish.


I think there are better options out there, but that is just IMHO.


- w

 

You think there are better options out there than Tru-oil? .... to fix a blemish on a guitar already finished with tru-oil ? :confused:

 

For Example?

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Tru Oil is made from polymerized linseed and other natural oils and technically would be categorized as a wipe on varnish.


I use a combo of applying with a cotton swatch when building film thickness and wet sanding with 1000 grit and a spritz of mineral spirits between every 2 - 3 coats. Once a good level body is achieved, I spray the last 2 - 3 coats and wet sand with 1500 through 2000 after the last.

For a more satin / silky gloss, I'll spray one last coat, wait a week, then rub out with some stock and sheen product, its a fine pumice type substance in a liquid vehicle.

For a little shinier look, I'll do a thinned out wiped on glaze coat after the 2000 grit session, then buff the next day by hand with a micro fiber cloth.

I like Daves idea of a foam brush, I'll have to give that one a try.

Here is one I just finished up


.

cruiser-011.jpg

 

Amazing shine.

 

I have had nothing but good experiences working with tru-oil and gotten fairly good at applying it.

 

I'd say you pretty much have mastered it. :thu:

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I've used 0000 steel wool to smooth things out.

 

One reason I use rags or a cotton cloth when applying the oil is that I can rub it in hard, causing friction and an increased temperature. This heat apparently makes the Tru Oil bond differently.

 

I apply several very thin coats of Tru Oil. This neck, for example, has 7 or 8 coats applied during the course of one week. It's incredibly smooth. I added Gun Stuck Wax as a finishing touch.

EBMM Steve Morse

 

Be careful when disposing of the rags if you use them, since they can spontaneously combust.

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Well yes. I should have said it does not behave like an oil in the way say lemon oil behaves. As you say it forms cures to a hard finish.


I think there are better options out there, but that is just IMHO.


- w

 

 

Lemon oil isn't an oil (at least not from a natural plant). It's not even made from lemons. It's mineral oil. Which is a by product of distillation to make gasoline. With lemon scent added.

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Lemon oil isn't an oil (at least not from a natural plant). It's not even made from lemons. It's mineral oil. Which is a by product of distillation to make gasoline. With lemon scent added.

 

Ive had this arguement before.

 

Lemon oil by defenition, is oil that comes from the peel of a lemon.

 

You are correct though, if you are talking about the product commonly named and sold as "lemon oil", comes in a bottle used for seasoning wood furniture and the like. You are correct.... that stuff is NOT oil and isnt made from lemons.

 

But if I extracted some fluid oil from the peel of lemons, which I HAVE done, (biology major, organic chemistry lab) it certainly WOULD be lemon oil and it certainly would (and DOES) exist.

 

So, to say leomon oil is not an oil and doesnt come from plants, yeah, sure, most of us here would probably know you are talking about the non organic type. But there are other places, like the chemical manufacturing industry, or the detergent industry, or the fragrance oil industry etc, where they would laugh at you if you tried to convince them that lemon oil is not oil and doesnt come from plants.

 

The only reason I bring this up, is because I actually had an arguement with a guy, HERE, on this forum, that said there is no such thing as oil that comes from lemons. It all started with a very similar comment like the one you stated.

 

it was alot of fun.:thu:

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I just don't need to get all empirical on your asses anymore as DA does it just {censored}in fine:thu:

 

I actually do use essential oil of lemon in my fretboard oil mix, more by way of a {censored}ing wheeze than it's properties, but it sits just fine with the rosemary and other oils in there.

 

Ive had this arguement before.


Lemon oil by defenition, is oil that comes from the peel of a lemon.


You are correct though, if you are talking about the product commonly named and sold as "lemon oil", comes in a bottle used for seasoning wood furniture and the like. You are correct.... that stuff is NOT oil and isnt made from lemons.


But if I extracted some fluid oil from the peel of lemons, which I HAVE done, (biology major, organic chemistry lab) it certainly WOULD be lemon oil and it certainly would (and DOES) exist.


So, to say leomon oil is not an oil and doesnt come from plants, yeah, sure, most of us here would probably know you are talking about the non organic type. But there are other places, like the chemical manufacturing industry, or the detergent industry, or the fragrance oil industry etc, where they would laugh at you if you tried to convince them that lemon oil is not oil and doesnt come from plants.


The only reason I bring this up, is because I actually had an arguement with a guy, HERE, on this forum, that said there is no such thing as oil that comes from lemons. It all started with a very similar comment like the one you stated.


it was alot of fun.
:thu:

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I have some actual lemon oil. Bought it at a health food store. Best {censored} in the world for removing sticker residue.

 

 

Oil of orange and lemon are among the best solvents for most {censored}, that nature can offer, they can even remove human remains from all kinds of places as well as Cocoa Cola concentrate (phosphoric acid) can.

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