Yoyoyo, I may have been quiet but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy.
So, I've been battling a bit of an issue of my own making and have been doing some experiemntation.
The original goal in this time was to continue to evenly build up the front layers of Tru-oil, ready for flat sanding and final curing etc, then I can work the back.
Two problems though, 1. Some of the smaller pores weren't completely filled by the sealer. I though that these would easily become filled and then sanded out in the 1-15 coats of TI that I'd applied, but it just wasn't working.
I expected the TO to pool in the small holes and cure, but the oil is just too thick, the sealer thicker still. I did try though, I layered up and all I got for it was a thick layer of TO that was pretty uneven and the pores remained.
I even tried working 90 degree to the last layer but I was seeing layers and "brushstroke" lines appear.
The other issue was I was noticing fluff and some fibres in the finish. Not visible when I was doing it, but to a light after, it was there.
So, using some 800 grit wet and dry I sanded down with some water and liquid soap. This worked really nicely actually. The TO sanded down to a really glassy finish. I probably took most of the 10-15 layers off but I wasn't down to bare wood and we are 90% flatter than when we started. But still not perfect, pores persist. although the fibres are gone.
So I went on a research path and started reading all about French polishing. This lead me to try cheesecloth. I bought the best I could afford. Surely you wouldn't get fibres in that? Wrong, after a little experimentation it was worse than filter papers. I sanded back a little again. Balls, wtf am I going to do? I can't strip all this to put sealer on again, and even then it wont work.
Had my solution to the white grain now caused me not to be able to have a flat finish. FFS this body is testing me.
Half a litre of Makers Mark and plenty of contemplation and further reading lead me to some other advice.
Cutting the TO with white spirit makes it less viscous for final coats, stops it building high spots. Does that mean it'll pool in the pores easier? One way to find out. Also the same posts mentioned using a finger to apply. I would have have thought that would leave fingerprint marks, which it does. So how can I remove my fingerprints? Luckily I have a box of powderless Nitrile gloves.
So I did just that, cut the TO with White Spirit 60/40 and decanted to a little travel shampoo bottle. Then with a gloved finger (ooh er) I applied a small drop and tested. Not only did it go on nice an thin but there was no lines, high spots, witness lines. It just allowed me to paint on super thin.
I got down low to see the pores and made sure I used my finger to work the new, thinner TO into the pores.
1 hour and 2-3 coats and 99% are gone with little effort, the cut TO just sits more level, the surface tension isn't there to stop it falling into the small gaps and it just did as it was supposed to. Also because the gloves are super sterile. absolutely no fibres. YES!
As an added bonus, cut TO dries WAY glossier than normal. I'd say 2-3 coats looks to the eye like 20 coats of normal.
Alongside this there is some very cool development in the pickup area. Unfortunately I haven't still been able to match my fancy Gold HFS with its Vintage Bass gold counterpart and I'm not forking out 150 for a single pickup, but a very cool solution presented itself which will give me my HFS / VB combo, in a luxurious appearance and some added cachet, for a fraction of the cost.
That's for the next update though