Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey, all, as long as we seem to be on this finishing kick around here, who uses Tru-oil and has a good procedure, particularly for getting a good gloss? Thing is, I sanded through the nitro finish on both my neck and headstock and - since I've been wanting to try Tru-oil anyway - decided not to reshoot it but go w/TO. How can I get an acceptable gloss on my headstock that will look OK with the nitro body? Does the prep work need to be any different? How long to cure? How to polish? Anything else you can think of will be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

When I spray gloss on the body, even if I'm doing satin or oiled necks, I still spray gloss on the headstock, to get a good match.

You need advice from Dave and Russell in the UK. They are very experienced with Tru-oil and I know will chime in here and offer their help.

I used it on my first, because of them, and am pleased with the result. But i am too inexperienced to advise you.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Hi Wes

I'll start the ball rolling, but Dave may have more to add here, the procedure I have used is very simple, sand down the neck in stages to a very fine paper or Micromesh, I like to wipe the Tru oil straight on and straight off using a cotton cloth to ensure I build very fine coats, keep repeating until you get the depth of finish you are after, by the nature of the Oil you are not going to get a very high gloss like lacquer, it ranges from very Matt to Satin.

RussellRussellR38769.7442476852

TO is also available in spray cans now, and recommended as a final coat after wiping. I think it can be buffed out after a few weeks of curing to achieve a gloss.

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Chris Nielsen
Soquel, CA.

Wes,

I posted my Tru-oil neck technique here:

Tru-oil

If you want to polish it you can let it harden (probably a few weeks) and go up through the micromesh grades or I would just play it a lot - your hand does as good a job. LMI have some Tru-oil techniques on their website under their finishing articles.

Like Mattia I would advise that you nitro the headstock if the body is nitroed. otherwise you can do the same micromesh polishing of Tru-oil.

Hope this helps.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Thanks for the help, guys.

I went ahead last night and masked off the headstock and started spraying nitro. Seems I had just enough left in a Preval to knock out the job so why not? Coat of sealer last night, 3 coats this morning, more coats over the next couple of days...figgered I put this much work into it, what's a couple more weeks wait, huh?

Thanks again for all the help. Seems I can't make up my mind, here. Sprayed nitro, sanded through, took nitro off and tried Tru-Oil, took Tru-Oil off headstock and went back with nitro... wish I'd just resprayed nitro on the headsock when I sanded through, now! Oh, well, live and learn. That's where experience comes from, right?

Can't wait to try out the Tru-Oil neck. Looks and feels great already! (OK, it's still a little sticky, but I see the potential!)

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com