Tung oil on mahogany body with Indian rosewood lam

[leejord]

This will be my first project. Tung oil on chambered Mahog tele with rosewood laminate top.are there any detailed explanations of method to apply oil.have read on another thread to use six coats,light sand and wait 24 hours b/w coats.anything to make sure I don't do?thanks

 

[rapfohl09]

Well the amount of coats is kind of arbitrary. Basically you build up the coats till you like what you have. Tung oil is a penetrating oil so you should be sealed and finished in about 2 or 3, but its better to work with a lot of thin coats. I just use cheese cloth or a rag, but I hear using your hands works much better and if I wasn't so OCD about things being on my hands I would do it that way. Oiling wood is just about the easiest thing in guitar building next to screwing stuff together I think. I have never worked with rosewood, so i'll let someone else chime in to let you know if there is something special to know about that, as its an oily wood in and of itself.

 

[lafromla1]

Cut the Pure Tung Oil with Citrus Solvent at a ratio of about 4:1.  Rosewood is not very porous, and has its own oils, so you will need the tung oil to be thinned to really get any penetration, otherwise it will sit on top and take forever to soak in and dry. That's what I had to do on my rosewood neck.  Rub it down well with cheesecloth, let it sit for about 15 minutes, then with a clean dry cloth, rub the excess off.  Do this about 4 or 5 times, waiting a day or two in between coats (depending on the drying area you're doing this in).  If you go with a ratio less then 4:1, you'll probably need some extra drying time (could be more then a week) between coats.  There have been a few threads about this exact topic, just give it a search.  And good luck, we want to see this when its done.

Edit: Keep in mind that after a bunch of light coats, i began to go heavier on the oil mixture until my final coat was all Tung Oil.  The whole process took me a month to complete, but it was worth it.

 

[m4rk0]

Cut the Pure Tung Oil with Citrus Solvent at a ratio of about 4:1.  Rosewood is not very porous, and has its own oils, so you will need the tung oil to be thinned to really get any penetration, otherwise it will sit on top and take forever to soak in and dry. That's what I had to do on my rosewood neck.  Rub it down well with cheesecloth, let it sit for about 15 minutes, then with a clean dry cloth, rub the excess off.  Do this about 4 or 5 times, waiting a day or two in between coats (depending on the drying area you're doing this in).  If you go with a ratio less then 4:1, you'll probably need some extra drying time (could be more then a week) between coats.  There have been a few threads about this exact topic, just give it a search.  And good luck, we want to see this when its done.

That sounds about right.. you will need a lot of coats though, and may have to wait more than 2 days between coats. different parts of the grain on a rosewood top will react differently to the oil.it took me a long time to get mine right.

 

[jackthehack]

Keep in mind you don't actually have to put a hard finish on that body combo; I've got a Strat in the same configuration; just oiled it up with WATCO Danish Oil and reapply a coat a couple of times a year.

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=272.0

 

[leejord]

thanks everyone for all the info. your guitar looks great jack. are you saying that with danish finish you simply rubbed it on and that was it? how did it change the natural wood

 

[m4rk0]

here's mine
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=4221.0

 

[jackthehack]

thanks everyone for all the info. your guitar looks great jack. are you saying that with danish finish you simply rubbed it on and that was it? how did it change the natural wood

I rubbed in about 6-8 coats when I first got the body before assembly. Once or twice a year I apply a light coat. It doesn't really change the look of the wood at all, just make the coloration pop out more.

 

[leejord]

Marko, your guitar looks great.I think it was a shot of your guitar in gallery that made me decide on rosewood lam with tung oil.Bit concerned that my rosewood top will not be quarter-sawn so will prob not get such a great finish as you. Did you cut tung oil with citrus solvent 4:1 like lafromla1 suggested

 

[lafromla1]

Marko, your guitar looks great.I think it was a shot of your guitar in gallery that made me decide on rosewood lam with tung oil.Bit concerned that my rosewood top will not be quarter-sawn so will prob not get such a great finish as you. Did you cut tung oil with citrus solvent 4:1 like lafromla1 suggested

Hey, you have to wait your turn to copy Marko's.  I'm next in line.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[m4rk0]

Marko, your guitar looks great.I think it was a shot of your guitar in gallery that made me decide on rosewood lam with tung oil.Bit concerned that my rosewood top will not be quarter-sawn so will prob not get such a great finish as you. Did you cut tung oil with citrus solvent 4:1 like lafromla1 suggested

haha thanks!!
I only did cut it for the first couple of coats.. I will dig up the topics I started when I was working on it... 

 

[lafromla1]

Here is a good one...

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=2929.0

 

[m4rk0]

Here's where I was freaking out... it turned out that it just needed a lot more coats

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3748.0

some more info:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=2929.0

more

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3003.0

 

[leejord]

Jack, i forgot to ask. on your mahog strat with rosewood lam, did you use filler on either wood before oiling. If not and if i decide to still go tung oil, do i need to use filler on mahog body.thanks

 

[Cagey]

Jack, i forgot to ask. on your mahog strat with rosewood lam, did you use filler on either wood before oiling. If not and if i decide to still go tung oil, do i need to use filler on mahog body.thanks

That's a good question - I'd like to know, too. Mahogany is an open-grained wood, so usually it's filled for most finishes, but I wonder about oils. Supposedly, oils do a certain amount of filling on their own and given enough coats, you'll end up with a smooth finish. But, I imagine regular grain filler doesn't accept oil as readily as raw wood, if at all, so you might have longer drying times between coats.

 

[rlscherer]

Jack, i forgot to ask. on your mahog strat with rosewood lam, did you use filler on either wood before oiling. If not and if i decide to still go tung oil, do i need to use filler on mahog body.thanks

That's a good question - I'd like to know, too. Mahogany is an open-grained wood, so usually it's filled for most finishes, but I wonder about oils. Supposedly, oils do a certain amount of filling on their own and given enough coats, you'll end up with a smooth finish. But, I imagine regular grain filler doesn't accept oil as readily as raw wood, if at all, so you might have longer drying times between coats.

+1 on this one... What was the call? To fill or not to fill?

muchas gracias,
RLS