Oil finishing kit...

BeardyAndy

I see lots of people on here talking about "stock oil" finishes for guitars so I thought i'd chip in with a recommendation.

I've never oil finished a guitar, I have however oil finished dozens (possibly hundreds) of shot gun and rifle stocks, this is by far the best finishing product I'd come across https://www.uttings.co.uk/p113501-trade-secret-oil-finish-kit-complete-sto-01-10/#.XYD36C5Kipo . I'm out of the trade now but used to buy it by the litre.

It's been a while but as i recall.. The Alkanet oil on first would enhance the grain, then the Rapid oil and i would leave it for an hour or so but keep a close eye on it because just as it starts to go tacky i'd put some of the TS-95 on a rag and buff it off. I'd do the rapid oil 4 or 5 times but you're probably not going to be out in the pouring rain with your guitar so you'll likely get away with less. This was slightly different to their method that i stumbled on once when the phone rang and the rapid oil was left on a bit long, after buffing it off it left a near french polish like finish.

It amazes me that so many people favour the Birchwood Casey Tru oil as in my experience its bloody awful stuff.

Sarge

Interesting stuff.
What do you think is awful about the Tru oil? 

springhead

That's interesting, more to this than I knew about!  I did use Birchwood Casey this time and it's still slightly sticky, several weeks after the last coat.  The only other neck I've oiled was a non-roasted maple tele neck and I used Rustins Danish Oil.  That has left a perfectly dry, satin feeling finish.  I'm tempted to very light sand this one with some 1400 or higher grit and apply one coat of the Rustins.

BeardyAndy

@Sarge pretty much the same reasons springhead’s listing above. 
@springhead don't use sandpaper on it after its oiled as i’ll just clog up, meths and extra fine wire wool thins and removes the old oil. 

springhead

I don't want to remove much and risk changing the appearance. How about wet sanding a coat of the new oil, wipe off surplus and let it dry? 

BeardyAndy

springhead said:

I don't want to remove much and risk changing the appearance. How about wet sanding a coat of the new oil, wipe off surplus and let it dry? 

The tacky residue is just linseed oil that's sat on the surface, once its gone like that there's not much you can do to save it. 

You could try a meths/tru oil mix on a lint free cloth (muslin is good) and buff the hell out of it, the meths will help thin the existing oil.

springhead

Ok, thanks, I'll give it a shot. 

lysander

Interesting, thanks for posting !
Tru oil is pretty bad indeed.
How many guitar do you think a single kit can do ?

BeardyAndy

@lysander a little goes a long way but at a guess, if you were doing neck and body, i'd say 2 or 3. Maybe more? Depends on the wood, with gun stocks i was always working on walnut so quite dense and will take less oil.

menamestom

Never had an issue with true oil, to be honest, works really well when done correctly.  Just need to be wiped off well to leave only a thin layer.  

Sarge

I like many coats of Tru oil, maybe 6 or 7, de-nibbing in between then finishing with 0000 grade wire wool and a soft cloth to buff to a soft sheen.
It's a beautiful finish and much less work than the slurry technique, albeit a different end result. 

springhead

Well I've done nothing more to this recently oiled finsh other than play it a lot.  It'smuch less sticky than it was and starting to develop a nice feel.  I don't know if that's just more drying time, or my hand moving over it or both but I think I'll hold back on doing anything to it for now and see if it keeps heading in the right direction.