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Howdy again everyone, I am just about ready to apply some tru oil finish to my refinish project, but I have one question. The archtop has plastic binding, do I apply finish over it also or tape it off.

Thanks as always
Bill

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De Oppresso Liber

I dont think the oil will adhere to it...? You could probably just wipe it off once the finish becomes half hard. I know it works that way for frets, but not entirely sure about plastic.

It should work fine for boltaron plastic binding. It did for me anyway.

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Jeremy Douglas

I,m not real sure what type of plastic binding it is, but if the tru-oil worked on boltaron, it might work on mine also. I hope

Thanks for the help guys
Take it easy
Bill

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De Oppresso Liber

If other finishes work on your binding I don't see why tru-oil wouldn't. You could always test on scrap if no one gives you a definite answer here.

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Jeremy Douglas

No definite answer, so I guess I will try a test on the heal cap and see if it will adhere and dry.

Take it easy
Bill

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De Oppresso Liber

I'd put a coat of shellac on it before the tru oil. I recommend this even without the plastic binding. I use shellac under Nitro, Waterbased or Varnish. I haven't used Tru-Oil. (I'm not saying tru-oil is bad, it's just not what I use)

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I agree, shellac is always a good idea to ensure a good bind between most surfaces and nearly any finish. But at the end of the day it is probably not very beneficial for anyone to think of truoil as a 'true' oil finish simply because it has the word 'oil' in it's name.

Despite what people may assume, (including the manufacturer) it is my experience that Truoil does not actually penetrate wood, even softwood, very much at all. Rather it seals and builds like most good finishes should and can therefore be taken to a quite high gloss level. This is because once a thin layer of Truoil has been laid down and is exposed to oxygen, a natural process of polymerisation takes place very rapidly turning any 'oils' in this finish into plastic which effectively 'seal' the wood from any further penetration. That point made, I do not see a problem with truoil over plastic bindings but we live and learn.

Cheers

Kim

Worked good on my #6, check out the pictures, all plastic binding and purfling.

Dave

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