Tung oil on Stain

[AggieTreed]

I know this question has probably been asked, but I cannot find the specific answer I am looking for in the forums. I plan on staining part of my black korina bass body, my build thread is here http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=18098.0, and then hopefully doing tung oil as my finish. The tung oil won't mess with the stain at all right?  :dontknow: Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[scartozi]

All the guitars I've recently refinished have tung oil over the stain. I would make sure you rub as much of the stain off during the application. Then let dry for a day or so before applying the tung oil. Here is how I do it and I've had great success and glass like satin finishes.

After the staining is completed and dried I use a sponge brush and apply a thick coat of tung oil....it'll probably soak up fairly quickly depending on the wood. I let it dry for 24 hours and apply another thick coat and let that sit for 24 hours. After the second coat I buff the finish with 0000 steel wool to take off any of the gloss. Once that has been buffed and smooth I apply another lighter coat, let sit 24hr. Then I buff again with steel wool. Basically after the first two thick coats each additional coat I buff with 0000 steel wool before applying the tung oil. I usually apply 6-8 coats depending on what look I'm going for and after the final coat of oil has dried I do a final buffing with steel wool.

Hope this makes sense/helps

 

[bagman67]

Synthetic steel wool doesn't get tiny bits of ultrafine wire all over the place.

 

[scartozi]

Synthetic steel wool doesn't get tiny bits of ultrafine wire all over the place.

Well I'll be, I've never seen that before....that would save A LOT of clean up time. I'll keep that in mind for the next refinish....coming soon. Have you used it before?

 

[bagman67]

Synthetic steel wool doesn't get tiny bits of ultrafine wire all over the place.

Well I'll be, I've never seen that before....that would save A LOT of clean up time. I'll keep that in mind for the next refinish....coming soon. Have you used it before?

Yep!  This is about 5 coats of Tru-Oil.

 

[AggieTreed]

Wow I must be putting the oil on way too thin! I've read everywhere that it takes a long time to dry so I have been doing thin coats. I think I have 7 coats on the body and 6 on the neck at this point and the pores are still not quite filled. No gloss either.

 

[bagman67]

Well, note that my photo is of a Tru-Oil applicatoin, and yours is tung-oil.  The two products behave differently. Also, maple is a tight-grained would, so buildup will go faster than on your deep-pored korina body - and possibly the bloodwood or bubinga you're working with on the neck.  The oil doesn't soak in so much on maple.

 

[line6man]

Wow I must be putting the oil on way too thin! I've read everywhere that it takes a long time to dry so I have been doing thin coats. I think I have 7 coats on the body and 6 on the neck at this point and the pores are still not quite filled. No gloss either.

The first few coats should be very thin, then you use thicker coats for the rest.

Why on earth are you putting a finish on a Bubinga neck? :sad:

 

[Cagey]

Limba (Korina) is almost as bad as Mahogany for deep-seated grain. You'll have to put about 27,351 coats on there if you're expecting to fill it with oil until it's smooth. You can reduce that count by sanding off the high points after every coat. Note: buy some more oil - you'll need it. This is why they invented grain filler. Saves a lot of that work, although with something really grainy it's not a panacea. It's just helpful.

 

[AggieTreed]

The first few coats should be very thin, then you use thicker coats for the rest.

Why on earth are you putting a finish on a Bubinga neck? :sad:
[/quote]

I read that using the tung oil on the neck made it feel like glass

 

[line6man]

The first few coats should be very thin, then you use thicker coats for the rest.

Why on earth are you putting a finish on a Bubinga neck? :sad:

I read that using the tung oil on the neck made it feel like glass
[/quote]

Bubinga should feel much better raw.

 

[Cagey]

I read that using the tung oil on the neck made it feel like glass

I've never read anything like that. I also would have a tough time believing it could be better than a natural wood, given a good wood. But, be that as it may, you still have to fill in all the grain before you'll get to that point, assuming you can get there. My experience with the stuff is... it's a finish. Past that, well, it depends on your expectations and how much work you put into it. I've seen some really nice results, but they've been few and far between and were hard-won.

There's no easy path to a good finish.

 

[line6man]

I read that using the tung oil on the neck made it feel like glass

I've never read anything like that. I also would have a tough time believing it could be better than a natural wood, given a good wood.

I've never read anything like that either.
I would strip/sand all that crap off and keep a raw wood surface. Otherwise, if you insist on encasing your neck in gloss, strip/sand it all off and then grainfill first.

 

[AggieTreed]

Well this is where I got the idea to tung oil my neck. http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=2929.0