Final Polish - Scratch Remover? Wax?

[VibratingElectrons]

I'm a total neophyte when it comes to finishing. I'm working my way through the coats on a body finished in tru-oil and a headstock finished in clear nitro right now, but I'm thinking about how to put the final sheen on them once done.

After a long cure time (~10 days in a low humidity space), I'm going to do the usual wet sanding (600,800,1000,1500,2000,3000) followed by hand-polishing with Meguiar's UC. Will that be enough? Should I use some kind of scratch remover and/or polish after that?

If so, is there much difference between Megiuar's Scratch X and the ColorTone Scratch Remover? I have a bottle of the ColorTone around, so it would be great if that was a decent solution. I also have some Quik Wax. Is that worth using at all?

What do all of you use for the final polish? I'll be doing all of this by hand because I don't have a buffing wheel.

 

[stratamania]

In contrast to lacquer which may orange peel and need to be levelled by wet sanding.  Tru-Oil should not need to be wet sanded and you should  avoid it for the reason it is applied by hand usually with quite thin coats. I have never had to wet sand Tru-Oil.

The idea with Tru-Oil if you want a shiny finish is to keep building up layers, with a light dry sand in between coats if there any witness lines from previous application. Final layers could be applied mixed with mineral spirit and then not sanded at all. If you have got to a good point you could just hand buff it with a cloth.

You can use Gunstock Wax, optionally or Stock Sheen and conditioner for more of a Satin look.

Main takeaway Tru-Oil is not a spray on nitro lacquer and different techniques apply to them.

 

[VibratingElectrons]

In contrast to lacquer which may orange peel and need to be levelled by wet sanding.  Tru-Oil should not need to be wet sanded and you should  avoid it for the reason it is applied by hand usually with quite thin coats. I have never had to wet sand Tru-Oil.

The idea with Tru-Oil if you want a shiny finish is to keep building up layers, with a light dry sand in between coats if there any witness lines from previous application. Final layers could be applied mixed with mineral spirit and then not sanded at all. If you have got to a good point you could just hand buff it with a cloth.

You can use Gunstock Wax, optionally or Stock Sheen and conditioner for more of a Satin look.

Main takeaway Tru-Oil is not a spray on nitro lacquer and different techniques apply to them.

Thank you! I'm glad I asked. I will avoid sanding the final coat then. Is it worth using a polishing compound at the end? I know those have micro-abrasives in them, so it may not be a good idea.

How about for the nitro-coated headstock? Thanks again for any/all advice.

 

[Rick]

I use a cure time of 30 days. Use meguiers scratch x.  Go very easy on the sanding.  Frankly on the later coats I've scuffed with paper towels.  Later coats ate thinned with naphtha.

 

[stratamania]

I don't use polishing compounds with Tru-Oil, as I don't like the result or look it produces. (If I want a high gloss finish I would use lacquer)

Others have used polishing compounds to get more of a gloss look and each to their own.

Perhaps get some scrap wood and test out the different options on that and see what you prefer.