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I used to take Tung Oil to finish little things i've done with wood (tool handles, things like that). And I very like to look, the texture and the feel of that finish. So my question is: is it possible to fnish a guitar only with tung oil? I know we can use it fort necks, but could it be a good idea for a whole guitar? I'm building electric bass with an Ash body and a very beautiful piece of bookmatched spalted maple for the top. And want to keep natural color and grain of this wood.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

Its fine for solid bodies. Takes about 7-8 coats minimum.

There are various products sold as Tung Oil. Some are pure Tung Oil which offers little protection since it mostly soaks into the wood. Some have various resins in the mix which offer much more protection and possibly even a little build to the finish.

I have an old LMI catalog from the '80's which describes a Tung Oil finish. I'll dig it out when I go into the shop.

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Expectation is the source of all misery; comparison the thief of joy.
http://redrivercanoe.ca/

Like Barry said, some so called Tung oil products may not even have Tung oil as an ingredient. Oil finishes make great finishes for instruments be they solid bodies or acoustic.
Here is a link that Bill Hodge sent me earlier today about oil finishes. Some might find it useful.

http://popularwoodworking.com/article/?p_ArticleId=13612

If you're talking about the polymerized tung oil from Lee Valley, I've used it on a bunch of stuff and like it quite a bit. Not sure about durability longterm, but you can always rub more on if there's an issue! It does dry, though I'm not sure exactly what's in it.

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Bob Garrish
Former Canonized Purveyor of Fine CNC Luthier Services

Here is Howard Kleppers opinion from another thread a reason I didn't finish my uke with it

Re: Hand rubbing/applying an oil varnish anyone?

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

I concur with Bob Garrish's experience with polymerized tung oil from Lee Valley but offer a word of caution. It will not stand up too well if you use it directly over z-poxy for a neck. I have two necks now that need refinishing because of this problem.Did not use a sealer of shellac because I was using the z-poxy.Wrong........!Hopefully the shellac between the z-poxy and polymerized tung oil will do the job.

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

In my limited experience, I've used Wattyl polymerized tung oil.

Raw tung oil, also known as pure tung oil won't dry and harden. It soaks in, and they usually wax seal it, or periodically re-apply. Cole Clark UL1 ukulele is finished this way with a wax seal.

Polymerized tung oil is a hard finish that's used on floors, and can give you a satin or high gloss finish. Apply using a cloth pad. I put a teaspoon of oil in a jar lid.

If you just wipe it on and let dry 24hrs, it gets lines that are difficult to sand out without going through to the wood. Best to wipe on and wipe off. Takes more coats between sanding, but can be re-applied in 3 to 4 hours. Apply to a section and wipe off with a clean smooth lint-free cloth within 30 seconds. It will start to go sticky if you wait any longer, as it's softening previous coats and shouldn't be disturbed. It's not nice to wipe off when it gets sticky. Bits of your cloth want to stick to it.

I now do about 3 or 4 applications a day, and continue for a week before leaving 24 hrs then sand out the lines. If you want a satin finish then just rub out the shiny bits with fine steel wool. If you want a high gloss, dry micro-mesh pads do a nice job. Soon as the micro-mesh pad makes a squeaky noise, wipe it on your pants and flip it over. That will be often. Be gentle with the first few pads.

If you sand through, a dull spot will appear. Keep an eye out for dull spots. Particularly at the edges and sound hole. Most likely you will get some. You can touch up just those spots and the area around them by wiping on and wiping off. I re-do the whole body. Still need to give at least 3 hrs between coats, and give plenty of coats - 15 or 20. Even more. Now if you carefully polish with micro-mesh, without sanding through, you'll have a shiny finish that you can buff with liquid car wax.

The wipe on - wipe off method is from "Hana Lima 'Ia 'Ukulele Construction Manual" for use with Tru-oil. They recommend 24 hrs between applications. I find 4 hrs is enough.

There's not much difference between tung oil and Tru-oil.

Cheers Hip.