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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

I’ve used Tru-Oil on several instruments and have had a few instances where the finish has not dried fully over rosewood. Sealing with a couple of coats of wax-free shellac has proven to be a successful approach for me.

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George :-)

Tru-oil makes a pore filler designed to fill pores on gunstocks. Dunno what's in it but it works well for me.

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Ken Parker builds archtop guitars and sells them for tens of thousands of dollars. Look here for his finish technique:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MLVfjw ... 7iz8ftBTbF

[link corrected, thanks to Steve!]

1. A wipe-on/wipe-off coat of epoxy
2. Several to many wipe-on/wipe-off coats of Tru-Oil.

I've tried any number of routines for TO and this has worked the best. The finish that can be achieved is beautiful, even without pore filling. This has been good enough that my spray booth is gone and my spray guns are in a box somewhere.

He uses West epoxy but I find that System Three Silver Tip works better. It has no amine blush so doesn't require washing with water after the epoxy is cured. It can be recoated without sanding for 72 hours. That's a convenience when you want a little more coverage, for example when you are concerned with sealing in surface oils. It's not very viscous out of the bottles and can be thinned 10% with lacquer thinner for easier and thinner coating.

For some of you, your market may demand fully pore-filled, glossy, and buffed finishes. So be it. I've found good market acceptance with this technique. It seems that there are plenty of people out there who are happy to have their wooden instruments feel like wood, even some who buy $30,000 arch top guitars.

That link took me to an intro video. This might be useful, here is the finish video for Ken that I found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MLVfjwNsEM&list=PLZqTWVx9Q6mkQiHUg5u60dh7iz8ftBTbF

There's a series of 6 finish videos. I really like what he's doing and I think I'm going to try it.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thank you saltytri. I skimmed through parts of the epoxy videos then glanced at the Tru Oil start. Maybe I missed it but does he (and you) sand after the epoxy? I plan to watch the entire series (it is very informative but a little slow) when I get back from traveling. I’m assuming there are sanding (or maybe steel wool or Micro mesh) steps between oil coats too?

Also, saltytri, do you use the fast or slow hardener?

I watched the entire series. I agree it is a bit slow but I appreciated that because it gave me better feel for just how thoroughly you have to wipe the finish off after application.

Ken stated in the video that he does no sanding after he starts the finishing process. I asked David about that and, if I understood correctly, he sands only to P800 and only does additional sanding (with P800) if needed to correct for dust or some other flaw in the finish. This is what I’m planning to try on a test panel when my materials get here. I’m starting with the slow set System Three Silvertip.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks Steve. I guess I need to watch the entire thing, but I’m struggling with no sanding after the epoxy. Seems counterintuitive and different from what I’ve done with epoxy pore filling. Wonder if it would hurt?

Don’t know if it would hurt but he wipes it completely of and keeps wiping almost as if he’s polishing it so the resulting epoxy coat has got to be super thin. I’m going to try it without additional sanding, if at all possible.


Steve

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Ken's technique has been on my list to try also.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Duct Tape:

I'm glad you asked that question. Sometime in the past, probably two or three years ago or more, I saw that there was an optional hardener that was called "turbo cure". When I tried to order it, I was told that it had been discontinued, so I just kept using the regular hardener. I now see from the company website that they again have a fast hardener available. The regular hardener does take quite a while to cure. While it can be recoated overnight, it can take a day or two to get fully sandable depending, of course, upon temperature. This doesn't hang me up too much so I'm going to continue using what I've got until it's gone and then will give the fast hardener a try. If I were ordering for the first time, I would certainly opt for the fast hardener at this point unless, of course, you happen to live in the tropics.

In the System Three Silvertip data sheet the cure time for both the regular and fast hardeners was the same, 72hr. The difference was in the open or working time. Since I have no experience with this product I’m just repeating what I read.


Steve

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Interesting, Steve! That info makes it likely that I won't try the fast hardener. For this application, I can't see any downside to more working time.

That's what I was thinking so I ordered the regular hardener. Epoxy should be here next week. I'm looking forward to trying this method.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"