Finishing Walnut body with tru oil

Since ive searched high and low for info about finishing with tru oil and what it includes , im posting my own experience (short) regarding the subject :

Lets skip to the step where we have sanded smooth the body :
> I havent used tru-oil as a product but g96 linseed oil finish which is the same product from a different company
>Make sure the cloth used for application of oil doesnt leave particles on the body. Ive used gun stock cleaning cloth patches.

1) First of all, we have all read about the difference between open / closed grain wood. This means that there are woods that have deep and large pores, clearly visible from the surface of the body (open) , and woods that are dense enough to not sweat it . Walnut is supposedly open grain (it is) and will need pore filling in order to achieve a glass mirror glazing shiny uber awesome finish.
This is not entirely true. I started sanding with 80 grit sandpaper and moved all the way up to 1200 , even before applying any finish to the wood. When the time for the first layer of tru oil came, i had a body that would reflect light on its own (even though quite dull and light colored).

The point is that after applying the first layer of oil even though the wood soaked it at an extreme rate, after drying it was visible and smooth on the entire surface. So after sanding ridiculously , i achieved pore filling and sealing with one layer of finish.
So :

a) The first layer (sealing) should be thicker than the following ones. Not too thick, (when you see bubles or foam forming as you wipe , you know youve put up way too much finish).

b) After it dries, and after any other layer dries , you should scrub with steel wool 0000 until smooth. After this the body should have a light Matte look.

c) Continue applying the oil but after the first layer make sure to brush it in along the grain and not Miyagi style, cause it will have marks and look like *****. You will need to keep it to a minimum and make sure that after you wipe an area, you cant really see build ups of the oil.

d) After 4-5 layers you may be able to stop using steel wool. The body already has enough finish to start building layers.

Im currently at layer 4 , and im planning to stop sanding. The finish is already smooth and shinny (without buffing) but im planning to go as far as 7-8 for an ultra shinny gloss. Will keep the thread posted, Here are some pics:
Walnut body 30minutes after applying layer 4 : http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4185/dsc00582hw.jpg
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/1203/dsc00581ch.jpg

P.S. Before commenting on the crude holes and pocket let me say that due to the nature of the wood (rocking hard) and the fact i did not have the proper tools, i carved everything except for holes with my hand and a wood gouge (that thing you hit with a wood block to carve wood). Yes even the neck pocket ( thats why it needed epoxy treatment) Theyre actually perfectly aligned :) Oh and everything is hand drilled. No press drills and leveled tables... I feel awesome for my skills :P

Thanks for sharing your info and well done on making a body with so few tools, indeed you do have skill. I'm interested in this because I have a half-completed body with a walnut back, made from engineered wood used for stair treads. Yours will be a nice guitar when it's done, what kind of neck are you putting on it?

Yes, really useful info, thanks.

Thanks for the feedback. Im planning to use a maple/rosewood neck, because the bright and spanky tone of walnut needs to be balanced somehow. Ive already bolted on an affinity maple neck to align the bridge and neck, and the sustain was neverending , but it had a very snappy sound. Its not really a problem, it would be awesome for a regular tele , but im putting humbuckers on it so i need it to be somewhat mellow.

Note: When ive progressed a little im going to revamp the post so that steps are more clearly defined and thorough, but im at work now so i dont have the time to do it.

P.S. The fact that i did not need pore filling with this piece of walnut is actual, but keep in mind that this piece is uniform and quite dense. Joined planks with varying pore sizes could have bad results without it.

Very nice work Hector!

Back~ I had lots coming up latley so i didnt have the time to post something. Since my last post ive applied three more coats of finish. I ended up lightly rubbing with steel wool because it was lightly colder in my appartment and the oil did not dry as flat as the hotter days. I did not sand back however, just rub ultra lightly. Around coat 6 and 7 i couldnt notice any difference on the build up, and i already have a glass shine going so im calling it a day as far as tru oil is concerned.
Here is a pic : http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/3259/dsc00591pz.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/337/dsc00591pz.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us) . Its a little blurry but thats okay , the second is better :
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Well resolution in this phone camera is as bad as it comes...

You have probably noticed areas where it looks like a potato chip landed on my finish, and its the wood , as i did not have the patience or interest to completely level the sides after rough cutting it. I mean i did, but to manually sand it i spent over 50 hours and i would not spend another 40 to cover such trivial markings. Besides i kind of dig the whole hand made feel it shows.

Now i need advise on buffing
And i really mean it.
The internet says i should buff with a cloth and 3m finesse polishing compound ( NOT RUBBING) as rubbing compound has a lower grit and will make the finish matte.

What i want is concrete answers on the following questions :

1) Exactly which 3m product must i buy ?
2) What cloth wheel for buffing must i buy to use with my hand drill? Please specify grit /material/shape and if possible product or image/ link :)
3) If a wheel is not needed, what kind of cloth to use with hand?
4) What is the procedure of buffing tru oil with a polishing compound and a cloth/wheel?
e.g. a) put polishing compound on wheel b) press drill button c) polish 3x3" parts of the finish d)let dry for a GAzillion hours. Please write down something like this heh.
5) When do i know how to stop polishing an area?
6) How long must i wait for the polishing compound to cure/dry
7) After polishing or before: I read that i have to lightly coat the finish with lemon oil to prevent fingerprints . This is reasonable as oil finishes are prone to them. The question: Should i use BOTH lemon oil AND polishing compound? IF yes, which one do i put on first?ELSE IF not just say "noooooooooo lemon oil" :P

Thanks in advance for any answers , have a nice day.

That totally warms my heart. There is a beauty to that no power tool can deliver. Stand proud, you've created a masterpiece. I Love the hand made feel comment.

It is really beautiful.

The best part is that the True Oil was $4.50, and you only used half of it. That's what I found anyway. I stopped after 4 coats, but I also had no idea what I was doing as a first timer.

Disaster report :

Yesterday i went to the store to buy some perfect it III ultrafine SE. Due to high cost i resorted to another product called "GLAZE" . I can even recall company ill post later when i see it again. This particular buffing cream is for application with pad or by hand ( with a special towel ) and it creates a protecting layer for any finish.

Well i applied this on my guitar body and buffed hard with the soft cloth they gave me with it.

After i was done , the oil finish was coated and no fingerprints are left on. it has a nice shine if you look from a distance. ANd this is where hell starts :

The thin film of tru oil i had built on the body has thinned further, retracting so much as to reveal pores once again.

After buffing , whiping marks that werent there appeared, and now im stuck on a semi matte - gloss finish , with terrible whipe marks and spots where tru oil has built up,and also streaks of not so glossy finish (not many but i couldnt see them before buffing on the cured tru oil .. . ) will post pics within minutes .. . What do you think i could do to fix this : ?

WIll rubbing down with steel wool or fine grit sandpaper and reapplying glaze solve my problem?

I don't know if this will help

http://www.lmii.com/carttwo/truoil.htm

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Thanks for the reply. I have read the Lmii text on finishing with TO but its not the method i followed. Im not saying theyre wrong. I will probably try what they say, even though i have read many times here that you must not rub down the final coat of TO . Above are the images of my doomed finish..

You may think it's doomed, but I'm sure you'll find a way to get it near to where you want. I've got to say, it's an incredibly beautiful piece of walnut, no matter what the finish.

Walnut is supposedly open grain (it is) and will need pore filling in order to achieve a glass mirror glazing shiny uber awesome finish.
This is not entirely true. I started sanding with 80 grit sandpaper and moved all the way up to 1200 , ...

... The point is that after applying the first layer of oil even though the wood soaked it at an extreme rate, after drying it was visible and smooth on the entire surface. So after sanding ridiculously , i achieved pore filling and sealing with one layer of finish.
As you have found out, there is no shortcut to pore filling if you want a flat mirror finish. Sanding wood to such high grits is unnecessary. I do a lot of Tru Oil finishes and generally never go past 220 grit or so.

Around coat 6 and 7 i couldnt notice any difference on the build up, and i already have a glass shine going so im calling it a day as far as tru oil is concerned
6 - 7 coats is enough for a good protective film, but not anywhere enough of a film to level out. Tru Oil goes on very thin and will significantly shrink back in the first 4 - 7 days of curing.

WIll rubbing down with steel wool or fine grit sandpaper and reapplying glaze solve my problem?
No. You simply do not have enough material / film built up to get a flat mirror finish.
Your best bet is to give it a good wipe down with some napatha to clean it up and then wool it down till all the shiny spots are gone, then continue on with building your film.

Here is something to shoot for.

.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g94/quarterbend/SB-002/sb-002-11s.jpg

^^^WOW that is a beautiful shine!

How many coats is that?
What do you do between coats?

I have used linseed oil on walnut. You can fill pores with it, too, similarly to how you used steel wool. In your position, I would use naptha to wipe down the guitar to get any wax off of it (that buffing compound you used that said it "protects" has some wax or silicone coating in it--you need to get rid of that). They you'll be down to your last oil coat. Put a fairly heavy coat of Tru Oil on, using 320--400 grit sandpaper. This will create "swarf" which is a mixture of oil and sawdust, and will fill pores. Wipe off excess before it gets too gummy, and repeat. You'll eventually fill the pores this way, and can start building a level coat, that you can eventually begin to level sand if you want to. I would not use steel wool, as this will leave small "fibers" of the steel wool in your finish, which are much more objectionable that the tiny grit that fine sandpapers leave when you're swarf filling pores.

Tru-Oil makes a beautiful finish on Walnut (as can be seen on your guitar), but it takes a lot of patience and effort to get that mirror finish like Tom Pettengil shows in his photo.

Great work, very impressive with hand tools.

Hello everyone, back for more posting. I followed the instructions given by Mr. Pettingill, but my varnish supply has depleted after 3 more coats ( well actually it dried to the point of useless, even though it was sealed and upside down ). I am pleased with the results so i buffed and moved on :).
Now that ive finished almost everything, and finished the neck as well (tru oil'd) i started putting the thing together. I drilled the body holes through the neckplate and then clamped the neck on the drilled pocket. I alligned it with two E strings (0,46) and marked the spots on the neck. This is the nice method Jwells ( i think ) posted somewhere. The problem is that after i drilled and bolted my neck, it is slightly off , as seen in the picture below. Also , it frets a little when i go beyond the 7 fret but i havent messed with the saddles at all,and sanding the neck pocket is not something difficult. Alignment at the nut is fine, its the neck / bridge that is off, but since its a very small error, i hope i can do something about it without redrilling... so Can I?
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