Does the smell of Truoil go away?

[Kurt Veltman]

I am finishing a bass body with Truoil, and finding it is one of the more unpleasant smelling finishes I have worked with. Does this smell stay with the instrument, or does it eventually go away?

[John Hamlett]

It eventually goes away. Interesting that you find the smell offensive, most people seem to think it smells great.

[Bob Menzel]

I concur with John. Even after thinning it with mineral spirits, I don't find it offensive at all. How did you apply it?

[Rodger Knox]

I posted a quick reply about 30 minutes ago & it's not showing up. Anyway, what I said was:
Yes, it does go away as the finish cures, similiar to lacquer. Should be gone in a couple of weeks to a month, depending on how sensitive your nose is.
It's funny, I actually like the smell.

[Kurt Veltman]

Looks like I'm in the minority here. To me, it smells musty, a smell that gets stuck in my nose and won't go away. I much prefer the smell of lacquer. While lacquer has (to me) a cleaner smell, Truoil just smells musty and dirty.

Bob, I am rubbing it on with a rag, straight out of the bottle.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Lacquer used to give me an instant headache, until it burned all those brain cells away! <g>
The smell of truoil never bothered me.

[Kurt Veltman]

Next question about Truoil: on the bottle, it says to let dry (at least 2 hours) then buff with 00 steel wool. The body I am working on is quite hard (possibly hard maple). If I wipe the oil on, let it dry (overnight in this case, at least 16 hrs) then rub it out with the steel wool, am I just taking it right back off? I can see a color change, as would be expected with any sanding type procedure, but is there a chance this is just sitting on the surface, and by hitting it with the steel wool, I am taking it right back off? Is there a way to tell if there is any protective finish left?

[Rodger Knox]

I'd avoid using steel wool, you can't use a block with it. The purpose of sanding between coats is leveling the finish, and using a sanding block with 400 or 600 grit sandpaper works for me. I rub on 3 or 4 coats in a day and let it dry overnight before sanding. Start out sanding lightly, you can easily remove all the finish if you're too aggressive. It may help to start out with 800 grit, and just knock off the high spots.
TruOil is originally a gunstock finish, and gunstocks don't have large flat areas like guitars. Steel wool works better on gunstocks, sandpaper with a backing block is the way to go with guitars.

[Bryan Bear]

I'm just the opposite, I find lacquer to offensive in a artificial chemical sort of way. I love tru-oil's smell; I find it more earthy and natural. For me, the best is freshly made shellac, it almost smells like baking cookies (or maybe rum balls).

[Bob Menzel]

What Roger said, but I only apply 3-4 coats per week (I work slowly) and knock down high spots every other coat until I've built up enough coats to level it off. If you don't like the way it smells straight out of the bottle, then thinning it with mineral spirits won't at all help with the bouquet. Thinning it will help with applying the finish though. IMO

[Rodger Knox]

I rub it on by hand, either with a finger or the heel of my hand, and put it on as thinly as I possibly can. Heating the oil (run hot water on the bottle) makes it go on smoother and thinner.
I usually put on at least 24 coats, sometimes as many as 40. I'm putting finish on for at least a week, usually two.
When I've got enough thickness built up (20 coats or so for me), I keep sanding back and putting on coats until one goes on perfectly, and then I'm done.
I don't level sand and polish TruOil after it cures, that has never given me better results than just leaving it alone.

[Waddy Thomson]

Depending on what I'm finishing, I knock the nibs and a bit of unevenness off with the gray non-steel wool after the first couple of coats, then every coat thereafter. I am building many coats though. My Sycamore guitar, my last one finished (no pores), I rubbed it more lightly than the current EIR instrument. I have found that with EIR using the Birchwood Casey Sealer/Filler is good for starting, as Tru-Oil doesn't like to dry on EIR. It wants to stay gummy. If you wipe it off with Mineral Spirits, though, it'll dry right up and you can re-coat. If your shop is controlled, buffing off in a couple of hours is not impossible at all if you are putting it on thinly. I probably put 10 or more coats on the Sycamore guitar and I'm at about 20+ on the Rosewood one, but I didn't get the pores completely filled with the filler, and thought the Tru-Oil would finish the pore filling quickly - wrong! I'm near the end of it now. but may need a couple more very thin coats. You can put it on and buff it off rapidly with a dry rag, until it's not tacky, and it'll shine right up. You need to keep turning the rag to dry places. T-shirt works well for this. My preference is to work it down with Micromesh, wet.

Here is the Sycamore guitar - my #10.

Here is where I am with the EIR guitar - #11.

[Kurt Veltman]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. It's a little depressing to know I've basically wasted al,ost a week "finishing" this. Or more appropriately - finishing,unfinishing,finishing, unfinishing.

[Kurt Veltman]

When/if I get this built up a little, I get the feeling it's going to be a glossy finish. The person I am doing this for wants a matte finish, but likes the slightly darker color the oil gives. How can I get the matte finish and retain the depth and darker tone?

[Bryan Bear]

Waddy,

That looks really nice! Is that tru-oil on the top too? Also, I didn't realize you were also using tru-oil, can I assume you have used it over egg white pore fill with no issues?

[John Hamlett]

You can have any surface finish you want with truoil, from high gloss to "satin".
I've only used TO as a top coat over oil varnish (Behlen's), and I've never done exactly the same procedure twice. What seems to happen is this:
I get a film of sufficient thickness built up by rubbing two coats per day, "rub it on, rub it off". I rub the TO on and then rub as much of it back off as I can with a soft, worn out T-shirt. If all has gone well, no "goobers", no streaks, no defects, the last coat can be rubbed on and then rubbed with the T-shirt until it has a soft, semi-gloss glow. If that works out, I am done... or I can let it dry and hand rub it with Maguiars #7 to a high gloss. If rubbing with #7 reveals defects, rub on another coat of TO and call it finished, or wait and polish again. At some point, I decide I'm done, whether I have a semi-gloss or a full gloss.

[Kurt Veltman]

Sounds good John, I'll work some of that into the process, along with aspects of others' processes.

[Waddy Thomson]

Waddy,

That looks really nice! Is that tru-oil on the top too? Also, I didn't realize you were also using tru-oil, can I assume you have used it over egg white pore fill with no issues?

Bryan,Tru-Oil on the top of the Sycamore guitar. Carpathian Spruce. Works fine, but a even more tricky around the bridge and fingerboard than French polish.

[Bryan Bear]

Thanks Waddy, I use a bolt on neck and finish before the bridge gets glued on. For some reason, I never considered it an option for the top. I suppose I worried that the oil would soak in too deeply and weight down the top. Bit now that I think more about it, there are great luthiers using oil varnishes. . .

[Waddy Thomson]

It doesn't soak in any more than shellac or any good sealer would. After all, it's a varnish, nothing else.