Official Luthiers Forum!

The newest Luthier Tips du Jour instructional video is on Youtube. The topic is Tru oil. Subtitles are available in both English and Portuguese and you can translate them into any other language by using the CC option on Youtube.
As always, comments and discussion are welcome.
Enjoy!

Thank you Robbie!

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Thank you.

portuguese subtitles? i wasn´t expecting that kind of service... and it even has "minor swing" as back-track!

thanks!
miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Nice work, keep these cool videos coming, we all learn from you.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Thanks everyone. I have been working on a bunch of new Luthier Tips du Jour videos. Here are some of the topics that will be coming in the near future:
Bridge removal
Electric guitar finish
Hand Planes
Band saws and resawing
The Brazilian 7 string guitar

The Portuguese subtitles are because 20% of the 1800 daily hits on my Youtube channel come from Brazil. Just over that amount comes from the USA and the rest among a bunch of other countries.

Happy Building!

still, a nice touch!
cheers,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Robbie (or anyone else using this),

What is the filler of choice when using Tru-oil on a neck?

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

Josh: You should explore the use of z-poxy under oil finishes in the archives.I would tend to stick to traditional pore fillers.
Tom

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

So you don't even wet sand and polish out? No streaking brush strokes?

Where has Tru-Oil been all my life?

Woah! My understanding was that Tru Oil was bad news for acoustic bodies and soundboards. Not so? I have some lying around I might use on my current project, if that's the case.

Thanks Robbie! You videos are always awesome.

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David Morris

Any filler will work. Just make sure it fills the pores completely.

Thank you. I am glad you are enjoying the videos.
Oil can be an excellent finish for an acoustic instrument. Oil varnishes have been used on instruments for centuries. I always use a seal coat of shellac first though before applying the oil.

There have been issues with Tru-Oil over Z-Poxy on necks. They were discussed here. I had several necks get "fuzzy" after a few months. I imagine the seal coat of shellac would help that.
Nice video Robbie, tell us in more depth about your surface prep prior to application. What grit do you sand to and what's your personal choice for pore fill?

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Makes me wonder why I have been trying to Laq. This looks soooooo much easier and forgiving to me ! Thanks for the Toot ! I will be trying this very soon !

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Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
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Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
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As always, nice video Robbie. Thanks for doing those. I know you put a ton of work into them.

I've used Tru-oil on a couple now. It is very easy. It's hard to screw up. It will fill pores eventually, but it takes about a million coats. I've read that putting the next coat on before the previous one has dried can give you curing problems. I have done 2 coats per day and haven't had a problem. Last year, I did have one spot where it wouldn't cure for me on a guitar. I think it was related to contaminating it with CA accelerator. Probably would have been fine if I had been a little more patient.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Thanks for the video!

I really like Tru Oil on a neck. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the stuff on the body though. Yes, it looks nice when you finish and the process is much easier than lacquer, but the finish provides little protection. For fingerstyle guitars, this might not be as big of a problem, but flatpicking and strumming will cause excessive and accelerated wear on a top (ask me how I know). Also, as has already been mentioned, it is very good practice to seal with a wash coat of shellac prior to applying Tru Oil. Some oils in oily woods like EIR or Cocobolo will prevent Tru Oil from curing, leaving sticky patches of finish that will drive you bonkers (yet another unfortunate personal observation).

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Aaron Craig

I've seen a tru-oil sealer sold alongside tru-oil varnish.
Is this a sealer like shellac ?

I am not sure. I always use shellac as a sealer. There are several products offered by the same company including a pore filler/sealer type product and a final buffing type product. I have never used them though.

Robbie

What grit do you generally sand to prior to using tru-oil as a finish ?

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Couple questions how well does it hold up? After seeing this I want to try and use it on my zebrawood guitar. Can it take a beating from a heavy flat picker? How many couts do
You think it would take for doing a whole guitar?

The guitar body I speak of, finished in a lot of coats of Tru Oil (don't know how many, but I pore filled the body with the stuff, so it was a LOT; never again, by the way), is about a year and a half old now and looks like it has been played for 7. Picks easily dig into the finish and dent a spruce top if aggressive strumming (not talking crazy hard, just firm strumming with a med. pick) is employed. Of, course a pickgaurd would help. For backs and sides, I see much less of a problem with durability. If you were to get a scratch, Tru Oil is not too difficult to repair.

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Aaron Craig

Robbie,
In the Tip you mentioned Wipe On Poly too. What are the pros and cons of Tru Oil vs Wipe On Poly?
Ed

So do you wet sand, level and polish out? Maybe that's a dumb question IDK but any finish I've ever used you have to do that.

Great video Robbie. like Ed, I would also like to know the pros and cons of Tru Oil vs Wipe On Poly? Thanks.

Ron M.