Tru oil, when is it dry?

Wait. It needs time to cure and for any solvent to out gas. If you get too aggressive and impatient, you'll just make the process take longer until it's actually fully cured. I usually do a very light coat every day until I'm happy, usually just applied with a small square of cloth. Very very light coats is what I do, which I think is completely the opposite of what they recommend. I also don't generally sand between coats. That's just my own process, though.

 

I do it a little differently. I put the first couple of coats on pretty heavy and let the wood drink it up. About the third coat it's starting to build up. Now if I want a gloss finish I go to the light coat way of thinking but I do maybe 3 a day.
I think TO really excels at a satin finish. When it starts to build I stop and let it dry for a couple of days. Then level any build_up with steel wool, scotchbrite or a fine grit sanding pad. After that I polish with a fine cut compound and it's done. And that gives the best feeling neck you can get with a finish. Start to finish about 3 days.

 

With optimum conditions and light coats, you can recoat in a couple hours. I would not recommend any more than 3 coats a day and to be on the safe side, 2 is a better target. You don't need to sand or wool between every coat. I generally do any leveling in the morning before that days coats. Once I get a nice film built, I generally then let it cure for a week or so before any final polishing. Lots of good info in this old TGP thread here http://www.thegearpage.net/board/in...-get-a-high-gloss-from-tru-oil-finish.711780/

Here is a recent Tru Oil project on some limba.

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More beautiful work, Tom. What did you use as a filler on that?

 

Thanks! I used BC's own Sealer Filler on that one. I did a little light dye / shading strait to the wood, so I wanted something clear that did not need a lot of aggressive initial sanding. Its not a "perfect" filler. It takes multiple coats, has some shrink back, though is pretty stable after a week or so. For this project though, I felt was a good choice.

 

How do you do the final polish/buffing. I've never had much luck getting high gloss. It seems too soft, but people do it.

 

Part of the "trick" is to not have to do much, if any level sanding at the end. Because Tru Oil does not burn in, and goes on thin, I started thinking about the process as a level as you go exercise.

I build the body of the film by wiping it on and then lightly wet sand with some 1000 grit every 3 - 4 coats to knock the tops down. At some point, the shiny low spots disappear and then I switch to spraying the last couple coats. For the spray sessions, I thin the Tru Oil with a little mineral spirits, maybe 10% and spray one wet coat in the morning, let dry overnight, and then lightly wet sand the next morning with some 1500, spray the last coat and let cure for a week or more.

If I've done a good job of building a good and level film, I can just give it a hit and miss for any minor issues with some 2000 or micro mesh and go straight to polish with some Meguiars #9 and a Stewmac foam pad on a drill motor.

Here is a body about 20 min after the last sprayed coat. The little dash of mineral spirits helps it flow out nice.

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Fantastic builds Tom P.! Love your detail and wood choices. Thanks for the inspiration.