Removing/Adding decals

[Soloshchenko]

How would I go about removing a decal off my guitars head stock and re applying another. At the moment I imagine the current way of doing it would be as follows:
1)Remove the decal with thin wire wool
2)Add a few coats of tung oil to the head stock
3)Allow to dry fully
4)Add the water slide new decal
5)Add some more tung oil over the top to seal it.

Would this be the correct process? Can you even seal the thing with tung oil? If you haven't guessed I'm new to this!!

Any advice or pointers or corrections would be EXTREMELY welcome!!!!

 

[-CB-]

If you have a tung oil finish, then you have it correct.

 

[Soloshchenko]

Cheers CB, Its just I've read absolutely everywhere that clear varnish or lacquer will be needed to "seal" the decal. Your definately sure that a few thin coats of tung oil will seal it and not make the decal "crinkle" up? 

 

[-CB-]

No guarantees on non-wriinkling decals.  Reason is, decals are made of many things from a sort of thin plastic to something more akin to gelatin.  There is no telling whats safe, unless the maker of the decal guarantees it to be safe when used with certain products.

Having said that... I'd feel safer using something like PURE tung oil over a decal than any varnish, shellac or especially lacquer.  I have used Tru-Oil over decals, and it worked ok. TruOil being not an oil at all but a varnish type finish.  I've used MinWax polyUrethane in aerosols over decals, no problem.  I've used... and was very concerned about... lacquer over decals.  Lacquer is by far the worst and by far the easiest to mess up.  Trick is VERY light coats.

I'd feel ok with pure tung oil, applied very lightly as a seal coat, over the decal, which rests on pure tung oil finished wood.  Search google for Pure Tung Oil, and that milkpaint place has good stuff... they're good people to deal with too.

 

[Soloshchenko]

Cheers CB, I'll go for the pure tung oil then.