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I just picked up some Tru Oil yesterday to finish the guitar neck and want to double check some things before I begin to use it. So I have a couple of questions…

Should I use a seal coat of either Z-Poxy or 1# cut of shellac before applying the Tru Oil or do I just apply the Tru Oil directly to the wood?

Should anything be put on after the Tru Oil is applied?

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

If The Mahogany (I am asumming Mahogany) has typical Mahogany pore structure you can fill with Zpoxy and sand back to bare wood then sand to 600 or higher to achieve a very smooth surface prior to tru-oil.

I do not put anything else on the neck if tru-oil is used

If Maple neck filling is not required in fack some Mahagany necks dont need much filling if any.

Thanks Michael,

It is a Mahogany neck so I'll give the Z-Poxy a try.

I saw in the store that they sell a kit of Tru Oil dye, the Tru Oil Gun stock polish and then a Tru Oil glossy finish so I wasnt sure if I should have gotten the kit for the glossy finish. I'll try it without anything over the Tru Oil and see how it looks.

Thanks again!

_________________
Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

The other products you speak of or stain and a was for polishing--you DON"T need them.
I've used Tru-oil for the last 15 years building gun stocks. As Michael stated--you can pore fill with Zpoxy, which is quicker, but you can also just use repeated coats of tru-oil--same effect.
Probably cheaper to just use the tru-oil alone, but mroe time consuming. I prefer to use JUST the T-oil on the necks and T-oil OVER Zpoxy on teh back and sides.
Tops should be sealed with shelac BEFORE applying T-oil.
Hope that helps.

Blain--

This is what I do and its a bit labor intensive, but makes for a really fast neck. Once the neck is sanded through 320 I stain with red mahogany Min Wax and put a seal of 1# cut shellac on after 48 hrs or so cure on teh stain.

I apply a coat of Tru Oil with my fingers and rub it in until I can really feel the heat of friction. About 12 hours later I do a light leveling with 0000 steel wool and naphtha. Be careful with the steel wool as you can go through the stain fairly easily and you can also control it for a subtle 'burst effect. I get two coats a day this way for about a week. The last two coats are leveled with micro pads 2400 and 3600 and the last coat goes all the way out on the micro pads.

The upshot of all of this is a really nice looking neck that is just really, really fast. This streches out over eight or ten days, but its just 15 or 20 minutes at a time. I'll post a picture of the current one later tonight -- camera battery DOA.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Blain--

Here's a picture, such as it is -- I'm not a pro with a digital camera. The wood grain pops pretty good and I've been able to change the depth of stain with the steel wool. Might not suit everyone's taste, but I like it!

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Hey Jim, thanks for posting the picture.
That looks really nice.

Is that Minwax something that you can get at Home Deopt, Lowes or maybe even Woodcraft?

Thanks again, that does loook great!

_________________
Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

You can find MinWax products nearly everywhere. Mine came from Ace Hardware. It is an oil based stain, so I do like to give it 24 to 48 hours before putting shellac over it.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Very nice once again Jim.
Thanks. I'll check the local Ace Hardware here and see if they have it.

_________________
Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."