Guitar Gear Forum

I've put 20+ coats of tru oil on a tele body, so whats the next step before polishing? Do i 0000 steel wool it, or wet sand it, or any other recommended process?

When I did my Warmoth, I laid on a bunch of coats of Tru Oil, and once that was totally dry I used steel wool just to smooth it out, put on a couple more coats, waited for it to dry, smoothed it out with steel wool again and then I started rubbing on gunstock wax until it was finished.

Considering it was the first and only one I've ever done it came out pretty damn decent

Devin wrote:When I did my Warmoth, I laid on a bunch of coats of Tru Oil, and once that was totally dry I used steel wool just to smooth it out, put on a couple more coats, waited for it to dry, smoothed it out with steel wool again and then I started rubbing on gunstock wax until it was finished.

Considering it was the first and only one I've ever done it came out pretty damn decent

Cheers devin.

I steel wool after each coat. But I only do about 3 coats. Maybe I do them thicker than some people. I don't have time for 20 coats. I don't mind honest wear on my builds. The finish doesn't need to be impenetrable. Maybe, it's because I've been using maple lately. It's already hard, heavy, and smooth. Doesn't need a ton of layers of finish.

EDIT:

BTW, tru oil really is great stuff. I find it to be more durable than shellac + polyurethane.

BroSlinger wrote:I steel wool after each coat. But I only do about 3 coats. Maybe I do them thicker than some people. I don't have time for 20 coats. I don't mind honest wear on my builds. The finish doesn't need to be impenetrable. Maybe, it's because I've been using maple lately. It's already hard, heavy, and smooth. Doesn't need a ton of layers of finish.

EDIT:

BTW, tru oil really is great stuff. I find it to be more durable than shellac + polyurethane.

Yeah, i steel wooled after every coat, i put them on very light, it only took about 10 mins each day.

skybluegary wrote:

BroSlinger wrote:I steel wool after each coat. But I only do about 3 coats. Maybe I do them thicker than some people. I don't have time for 20 coats. I don't mind honest wear on my builds. The finish doesn't need to be impenetrable. Maybe, it's because I've been using maple lately. It's already hard, heavy, and smooth. Doesn't need a ton of layers of finish.

EDIT:

BTW, tru oil really is great stuff. I find it to be more durable than shellac + polyurethane.

Yeah, i steel wooled after every coat, i put them on very light, it only took about 10 mins each day.

I never have 20 days though. When the wife is out of town, I get 3 nights max, usually.

I did like 20 coats on my Warmoth, steel wool between each, but was worried it wouldn't be enough at the time. lol After the last coat I don't think I took steel wool to it, just the wax.

I have read to burnish it (rub it till warm) with a piece of denim or leather then wax, I am about to do the same to a warmoth tele neck that I did my first re-fret, dye, and tru-oil job to.

google houndogs tru oil method, as it seems to be the go to method on the reranch and tdpri boards

LMAO just realized this thread is over a year old

Update: Since I used mahogany on this build, I just wetsanded WITH tru oil over and over in lieu of grain filler. I think it came out gorgeous. This might have around 10 coats of tru oil. I probably got up to 1000 grit before i quit.

While this is an old thread, 20 coats is quite excessive. Not saying you WILL have problems like chipping or finish lifting but the possibility is definitely greater. I’m sure it looks fine initially, but oil isn’t like lacquer where each coat melds into the previous. Oil and most finishes lay on top like pieces of paper. So the more you go he more “layers” you have. When the wood expands and contracts these layers don’t move in unison and can delaminates from previous coats in some situations. Again, not saying it will happen. Some pieces of wood are just more stable than others, but there is actually a limit to how many coats of finish you can use before you are actually creating problems that might be counterproductive to what you are hoping to gain.

I’d wager 6-8 is about right. If you really spread it thin then perhaps 10 or so. Just my humble opinion from experience of 20+ years in the finish business