Twinfan has gone custom! (Completed guitar - pics added!)

[keith]

Yo Dave nice plank bro looks like another Manchester meet to christen it
cheers

keith

[Twinfan]

Cheers Keith  :)

Update for the evening:  the second coat is on and the electrics are all wired up except for the output jack.........

[Twinfan]

Penultimate oil coat is now on  :D  The body and neck feel much tackier as I wipe the excess oil off now so I'm clearly in the "layer building" part of the finish.  The wood is now sealed and it's building up the protective coating.

I'm out seeing the folks for the rest of today, so the final coat will go on tomorrow morning.  Everything's looking good for a first assembly on Monday.  Woo hoo!!!!

[Roobubba]

Is that guitar 3 stories tall, and is your kitchen in fact upside down?

[Twinfan]

Ha ha!

The neck is hanging from a lampshade over my kitchen table  :)

[martinw]

Looking good.  :D
Only 3 coats though? My Eggle took about a dozen using Danish oil.

Are you rubbing back between coats?

[Philly Q]

Looking good.  :D
Only 3 coats though? My Eggle took about a dozen using Danish oil.

I was wondering about that, I've read articles talking about 10-15 coats, even with Tru-Oil (which I think builds up more?).

I'm going to try to find a proper "how to" article somewhere, I'm sure Jonathan and/or Wez have gone into it in some detail in the past.

[Twinfan]

I'm doing exactly what it says on the tin for the finish, using a mixture of interior/exterior use prep:

* Thinned first coat with white spirit
* Undiluted 2nd, 3rd and 4th coats
* 3 undiluted coats are all that's required
* No rubbing back required between coats
* Final coat will be applied with Liberon 0000 steel wool for a smooth finish

10-15 coats sounds mental!  :o  I guess it depends on the exact finish used, and how close to basic Linseed Oil it is.  This Rustins one has extra polymers etc to speed drying and I guess thicken the finish:  http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/tips/danshoil.htm

Also, I'm not going to be gigging it heavily every night for 40 years so protection isn't a major issue.  If it was, I would be after a hard finish.  I'd like this one to be just protected enough to not damage the wood with normal use, and relic/age really nicely  :D

[Philly Q]

Well, I don't know, I read so much stuff I forget which bits are "good advice" and which bits are "don't do that".  :lol:

Building up numerous coats is certainly what I'd do with a spray finish - you "cut it back" every few coats with wet/dry paper to keep the surface totally flat, so even though there are lots of coats the paint isn't just getting thicker and thicker.

But I don't know how much of that principle can be applied to oil finishes.  I think you still do "cutting back", but I'm not sure if you have to do it with wire wool or if you can use wet/dry paper.... and there was something about buffing the final coat with wax, but I can't remember that properly either.  :roll:

[gwEm]

Well, I don't know, I read so much stuff I forget which bits are "good advice" and which bits are "don't do that".  :lol:

Building up numerous coats is certainly what I'd do with a spray finish - you "cut it back" every few coats with wet/dry paper to keep the surface totally flat, so even though there are lots of coats the paint isn't just getting thicker and thicker.

But I don't know how much of that principle can be applied to oil finishes.  I think you still do "cutting back", but I'm not sure if you have to do it with wire wool or if you can use wet/dry paper.... and there was something about buffing the final coat with wax, but I can't remember that properly either.  :roll:

thanks for this incredibly helpful post philly  :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Philly Q]

thanks for this incredibly helpful post philly  :lol: :lol: :lol:

 :oops:  Well, it was packed with ideas.... even if none of them turn out to be applicable.   :P

[Twinfan]

:lol:

I've just applied the final coat, using steel wool.  After leaving the oil for around 10-15 minutes, I wiped off the excess with a fresh piece.  This should give a nice smooth finish without any 'nibs' of oil build up.  Hopefully I won't have buff down the finish when it's dry now  :)

Assembly starts tomorrow, after I've drilled the holes for the tunes in the headstock.......

[WezV]

tru oil and danish oil give very different oil finishes.    Danish oil sets in the wood and cannot really be built up.  Tru oil will set on the wood and can be built up to a lacquer like high gloss.

when using danish oil i use a lot of coats wetsanded with the oil into the wood and buff off all the cr@p.  After i day or two i finish it off with a rub down with briwax and wire wool

When using tru oil i wipe it on liberally, leave if 15 minutes and wipe off any gunk and give it an hour or so before repeating.   I do this between 5-10 times depending on the wood then it gets buffed off after a couple of days rest with the wire wool.  If going for high gloss i would repeat this process till the finish was quite thick, doing 5 or so coats before cutting back and doing some more.  the final coats would need to be done with some skill.

So yeah, a few coats on the maple neck and a few more than that on the swamp ash body would be what i would do.  but you cant really go wrong with it, if it feels dry give it more.  if it gets too shiny take it back a bit with the wire wool!!

[Twinfan]

Thanks Wez  :)  It doesn't feel dry at oil, it feels like there's a nice layer of oil protecting the wood.  I think the 4 coats I've given it will be fine.  It it wears off too quick or starts to look dodgy, I can always strip it down and re-oil it.  I don't think I'll need to do that though.

Can't wait to start getting it bolted together tomorrow!  :D

[Roobubba]

Tele-hatred to one side for the minute (though not out of the foreground...), that wood does look very nice. I like the grain.

Roo