need help

[kbolen]

hello everyone ,just recieved my new j bass , black korina, my question is do have to sand it? i'm not wanting a real shiny finish i want more of a natural look, going to use tung oil, any tips on the procedure i should use with tung oil i have read so many ideas i'm more confused than i was before i started reading lol  thanks in advance ! Kevin B

 

[willyk]

G'day Kevin welcome to the board. If you are confused now, asking for tips will probably make it worse. :laughing7: Everybody seems to have their own ideas and preferences regarding application technique and what brands of tung oil to use etc. In the DIY finishes section CB has an epic post on oil finishing that would be hard to top. Read that and the others too and you will realise the common thread is to take your time between applications.. and yes you need to sand it. You might not want it too shiny but you will still want it even. A light sanding between coats will ensure the oil goes on smoothly and evenly all over. I usually wet sand the first couple of coats into the wood anyway, but don't get me started or you'll end up with a thread like "War and Peace" :icon_jokercolor:

 

[jackthehack]

Real tung oil will always result in a glossy finish. There are some products like Formby's that aren't really tung oil, but come in both glossy and more satin like finishes. Do you intend to fill the grain? You can apply tung oil without filling the grain, but the grain pores will still be real noticible; but that shouldn't be an issue if you don'y want a high gloss, mirror like finish like you might see on a number of axes on this site.

Since it doesn't sound like you want a "mirror" like finish, don't sand/grain fill it to start, you can probably get away with 4-5 coats of tung oil, wipe off all excess after applying each coat and buff back with 0000 steel wool bretween coats.

If you want no gloss/shine at all, it might be easier to just use 3 coats or so of clear "wipe-on" Minwax stain poly.

 

[kbolen]

thank you for the info ! no i dont want a mirror finish, i want a more "woodsy" look but i want to make sure i get a good seal , and actually i like the "grainy"look , so the open pores are fine guess what im saying is i lie a natural type finish . So i can start applying the oil on the body straight out of the box,let dry completely and buff with 0000 wool reapply 3-4 times buffing before each coat and i should be good correct?!

 

[jackthehack]

Should work, where are you from?

 

[dbw]

Should work great, that's exactly how I finished mine.  Looks like wood, you can barely tell there's a finish there.

 

[kbolen]

western Ky,    dbw do you have any pics posted ? would like to see how yours turned out Thanks KB

 

[kbolen]

here  is the body and neck i have, do you think it will look good the way i described finishing it ?

 

[kbolen]

body

 

[willyk]

That should look outstanding. It looks like there's a definite flame in that timber. Have fun. :hello2:

 

[dbw]

I don't have a good camera but, http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=2372.0