tung oil vs. pure tung oil vs. tru oil durability?

[jmohil]

Hey guys, newbie to the forums here.  Very glad I found the site.  There's TONS of great stuff out here!

I just received warmoth parts for my second project guitar...doing a black korina V with a wenge neck.  Should hopefully turn out pretty cool.  I was thinking about doing an unfilled tung oil finish on the body, but am kind of waffling between tung, true tung oil, and tru oil.    I did my first project (black korina/maple body, black korina neck) in tru-oil and built it up to a point where it was nice and glossy.  Unfortunately, it has turned out to be not very durable....tons of dings now, and I've totally worn down to bare wood below the strings.    It still looks great from five feet away, but is pretty thrashed when you get close. 

Any opinions out there on which of the three options would be the most durable?  On my V, I'm pretty impartial about gloss....just looking for something that will hold up well over time/extensive pick abuse, etc..

On a related topic....has anyone out there  ever stripped a tru-oil finished body and restained/refinished?  Did you just use mineral spirits or something like that to do the job?

Thanks, and again, glad to have found the site!

John
Atlanta, GA

 

[tfarny]

Well if you're mainly looking for durability and ease of application, you might think about those wipe-on poly finishes you can get. I did it to this fender recently, actually it was stain / gloss combo, just wipe on a few coats. http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=2150.0
Extremely easy. I don't think it looked as nice as my tung oil or my new lacquer finish, though.
Welcome to the addiction forum!
Oh, you'll need to give us pictures of your wenge necked V. Sounds great.

 

[-CB-]

Tru Oil is probably the more durable in cases where rubbing is concerned - but its harder to repair if the coating is thick.  Tung on the other hand, is less (but still suitably) durable in cases where rubbing is the issue, but is a breeze to repair, just give another wipe.

In fact, with Tung Oil (pure that is), you can just plan on giving a nice wipe down about once a year, and setting it aside for a bit to dry up.  With Tru Oil - a varnish - you really dont want to do that.  It builds much thicker and turns into a thick film, like varnishes can.