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Decided to take a stab at truoil for an oil finish in contrast to my usual lacquer. I'm having a heck of a time with what looks like brush marks, though I'm using old cotton cloth. Would thinning help this? I find no information on this as a problem so I assume I'm doing something wrong.

I tried rubbing with fingers and wiping off, and wiping on thin coats with the rag, same either way.

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Bryan Lafleur
www.lansegriseaccordions.com

Can you supply a picture ? Could it be marks left from sanding ? What was the last grit you sanded with?

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I'll try to get a pic later. It's not sanding marks. I sanded to 400. It seems to tack very quickly, which is what I figured was causing it.

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Bryan Lafleur
www.lansegriseaccordions.com

It does need to go on thin and dry very well between coats . May be just not dry enough.

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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/

Is the bottle fresh? By that I don't really mean recently packaged. Has it been open for a while. I once was using it on a project that was a back burner/delayed for a while. I was having simillar issues. Once that bottle was empty, I opened a second and it seemed much better. I wonder if it gets a little stickier over time once opened.

At any rate, you should be knocking down every coat or every other coat with a light touch (I use 0000 steele wool or synthetic scrubber pad). That will help. The last coat is what counts. If your last coat doesn't go on the way you like it and you feel the need to knock it down, just keep going until you get a good last coat. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I've tried wiping it on with a Bounty paper towel and a blue "shop towel" and get very different results. The paper towel left something that looked like the marks you're describing. The shop towel left a much smoother finish. Try a few different materials for application before you write off tru-oil.

I use coffee filters. They work great.

You have to pad it on enough to flow out smooth, but not too heavy so that it doesn't dry.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Wipe on with a rag. Then wipe it all off with a coffe filter. Ten+ coats and you'll have a nice thin finish. If you are tying to pore-fill with it . . . Have fun

Btw, what grit did you sand to before application?

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Aaron Craig

There is more than one way to skin the cat. Wiping on with a paper rag of some kind works well for me. I scuff back with 400 sandpaper after the first few coats, than I change to 600 grit wet/dry, or a gray non-woven abrasive pad. When I get to the end, I work it down with Micro-Mesh and water then polish with Novus 2 then 1. Works pretty well. Fresh Tru-Oil actually levels very well if put on in even coats and left wet.

The other method, which I've tried on scrap, is to buff off right after applying. Buffing hard with a soft cloth, until the finish is no longer sticky. Let dry, then repeat many times. Eventually you'll get a very nice soft luster.

I used the first method on this guitar.

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Waddy

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It might just be that you're leaving it too long before wiping off, so that it starts to cure and the towel grabs it. On a soprano uke top (so tiny surface compared to a guitar) I apply half a teaspoon or less, wipe until all the surface is covered, and then wipe off immediately. About a minute in total, and this leaves a very thin film which dries flat. 4 hours between coats if it's this thin.

Everyone's method is different. I use a standard cottonball burgled from my wife's cosmetic drawer. I find that the finish flows down out of the cotton perfectly--not a streak on the only one I've done so far. YMMV.

--Jaybird

Another method is to pad it on with a disposable paper towel munica in a pseudo-French polish fashion.

Diluting with mineral spirits slows drying time, but gives a smoother finish.

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Mike Lindstrom

I use Liberon Finishing Oil but I assume it's the same as Tru-oil. It sounds like you are leaving it on too long before wiping off. Apply a thin coat and wipe off right before it starts to get tacky. The more coats you apply the quicker it gets tacky. 0000 steel wool between coats. At this point if you have minor streaks a good rub with 0000 should take care of it.

My method is to sand up to 800 grit, water raise the grain, sand out any scratches that appear, then cut it back with 1200 grit. Apply the first coat very thin with a paper towel, then even more scratches will appear, sand those out, then touch up, apply coats to taste with a paper towel, lightly rubbing with 0000 steel wool between coats. This was taught to me by a prominent luthier in Europe, and it seems to work well. I'm enjoying hearing how other people do it. I think I'll try the coffee filter trick.

This looks great Waddy. I think I'll try your first method on my next one.

Thanks for all the replies, folks.

The piece I am having problems with is 6"x11", and am wiping on, then off immediately. I can't imagine it would make a difference but it is on maple burl. I'm also using it on bubinga with no problems. But the bubinga has noticeable grain patterns that may be hiding it, it just seems to stand out on the maple. I thinned the oil, which seemed to help a lot, but still see some streaking. The oil is new, not sure how old it is but freshly opened.

I've used Tru-oil on gunstocks before with no problems. Gonna try the coffee filter thing.

Goodin, I've been wanting to try Liberon. Do you feel it is a pretty durable finish?

Update: coffee filter really did a good job. I'm happy with that.

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Bryan Lafleur
www.lansegriseaccordions.com

I do not wipe the Tru-Oil off after applying. I put it on thin with a folded up piece of paper rag(the ones in a foot square box). I cut them in four pieces and fold the quarter into a pad. I apply the Tru-Oil to the pad with one of those little plastic bottles. I buy the big bottle direct from Birchwood Casey, decant to the little bottle then put Bloxygen in the big bottle.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

"Goodin, I've been wanting to try Liberon. Do you feel it is a pretty durable finish?"

I think it works good for fending off stains and minor scratches, but it won't hold up good for dents and big scratches, especially on spruce. I have only used Liberon so I dont have much for comparison. I assume this is true with all oil finishes though. (?) So far I have used about 8 coats on the each of the past 5 builds. I am finishing a build right now and I will see how this one holds up and let you know. I may go more coats 10-12 or so.

Each wood takes the finish differently. I find that mahogany and cedar take it really nice, but spruce not so much. It seems to soak in more and not as durable. Maybe a primer of shellac is ideal for spruce. Rosewoods finish ok, but scratches keep showing up in the IRW I am finishing now, and it is not shinning up as quick as the mahogany and cedar which are also on this current build. Cocobolo finished nicely but it seemed to take forever to dry, probably due to the oily nature of the wood. It was slightly tacky for at least a month.

Neither Tru-Oil nor Liberon will dry properly on unsealed Rosewoods. With both, when it stays tacky, you can wipe off the sticky residue with mineral spirits, let it dry and re-coat. Birchwood Casey makes a Sealer/Filler that is pretty good, but shellac works very well for either finish. Liberon takes much longer to dry than Tru-Oil.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Neither the Tru Oil or the Liberon will resist scratches better than something like Shellac. I've had samples that have been drying for months and both show a scratch when a fingernail is lightly pulled across the surface. That same scratch is not evident on a Shellac surface using similar pressure. You might call that a hardness test. Tough and durable is another matter.