Tru-oil finish!? Anyone?

**tiddle** · 02-01-2014, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Tru-oil can be a great finish, I come from a rifle background so I felt really comfortable using it..

Cutting it back especially the first few coats as Pixel said really does help so does applying the first few coats using 800 grit sandpaper to create a wood slurry that will fill pores

There are tons of tricks to be learned and tried

Pretty much the same thing here. Trick I like with porous wood like paduak; save a piece of off cut clean it with acetone or denatured alcohol, use 80 grit paper grind some of the cutoff into a cup, pour true oil in just enough to make a paste, smear it on, wet some 400 wet dry paper with some true oil and start wet standing in small circles. You got homemade wood filler, best part is some woods change color over time like paduak, redheart, bloodwood, purpleheart; so when this happens you're filler ages the same so you don't end up with different tones stuck under your finish you can't get. to. Also I use a one pound cut of blonde shellac between oils and water based stuff, or as a sealer after the trick above then my final finish coats. It works great . use a lite coat, let it dry about two hours lightly do two passes over with 400 grit then start your finish coats. you can pit it on after or between stains or dyes to add depth.

**miha** · 02-02-2014, 08:06 AM

It works, when cutting it you could try sth else for cutting it, I use Oranol, it's citrus oil, and smells great, I use it mainly due to its smell and to avoid the aliphatic, gasoline based smells, I usually start with 50% and go up towards 100% oil (with tung oil), hope it helps

**robert2286** · 02-02-2014, 08:17 PM

Thanks guys

**mrsell63** · 02-02-2014, 10:50 PM

I refinished gunstocks for 25 years way back when. Casey's is as good as any and better than many. Oil finish tends to not like heat so don't run hot water over your scales. It will probably soften.

**tiddle** · 02-03-2014, 05:09 AM

I got some useful info from this guy; he is a guitar builder, and another video for some ideas on using shellac. The Danish oil video is the same procedure just using true oil, or you can also use tung oil, or wiping varnish; just stay away from brushing or regular varnish...it will leave some hella' streaks (witness lines) and they're VERY difficult to get out (only made that mistake once experimenting luckily).

Danish Oil - YouTube

**robert2286** · 02-03-2014, 02:57 PM

Dang! Thats great info right there! Thanks

**Malacoda** · 02-05-2014, 12:54 PM

After trying CA, epoxy, and TruOil for my wood scales, TruOil is now all I used - hands down my favorite finish for wood scales. Far easier and more forgiving to use than the others with a very beautiful, durable finish.

For example:
On gabon ebony with walnut trim/spacer:
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Views: 376
Size: 27.9 KB

Name: DSCF0001.jpg
Views: 376
Size: 27.9 KB

And on yellow heart with padauk logo and spacer:
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Size: 32.7 KB

I usually apply 12-15 coats straight from the bottle. Then finish up by polishing it with 8k, 12k and 20k micro mesh follow by buffing with a few drops of plastic cutting/polish for a glassy smooth finish. (It cures glassy smooth on its own, but I always end up with a fleck or two of dust stuck to the final coat).

The key to TruOil is VERY thin coats. But if you're using it for rifle stock finishing, you probably already know that.

**robert2286** · 02-05-2014, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Malacoda

After trying CA, epoxy, and TruOil for my wood scales, TruOil is now all I used - hands down my favorite finish for wood scales. Far easier and more forgiving to use than the others with a very beautiful, durable finish.

For example:
On gabon ebony with walnut trim/spacer:
Name: DSCF0001.jpg
Views: 376
Size: 27.9 KB

And on yellow heart with padauk logo and spacer:
Name: IMG_1031.jpg
Views: 459
Size: 32.7 KB

I usually apply 12-15 coats straight from the bottle. Then finish up by polishing it with 8k, 12k and 20k micro mesh follow by buffing with a few drops of plastic cutting/polish for a glassy smooth finish. (It cures glassy smooth on its own, but I always end up with a fleck or two of dust stuck to the final coat).

The key to TruOil is VERY thin coats. But if you're using it for rifle stock finishing, you probably already know that.

Sweet looking scales!!! I am excited to try it... I have being cutting and shapping scales to them finish all of them at the same time... I heard that once you open the truoil it doesn't last long... A week or 2... I never had that problem but still... I got the small bottle and i am finishing all the scales almost all at the same time

**Malacoda** · 02-05-2014, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by robert2286

Sweet looking scales!!! I am excited to try it... I have being cutting and shapping scales to them finish all of them at the same time... I heard that once you open the truoil it doesn't last long... A week or 2... I never had that problem but still... I got the small bottle and i am finishing all the scales almost all at the same time

Thanks.

TruOil does have a short shelf life. I saw a theory somewhere online that it's because the solvents can slowly vent out through the plastic bottle over time as well as through the cap seal. It should last a fair bit longer than two weeks though...

I usually get about 2-4 months out of it before gums up into a think molasses-like consistency. However I made the mistake of completely removing the foil seal from the bottle. A better idea is to just poke a toothpick size hole in it - which will be more than enough to let out the 3-4 drops you'll need on your finger for each coat on each scale (2 drops for each side of each scale). May add another month or two of shelf life.

I've also heard that some guys have had luck thinning gooey truoil back to normal consistency by mixing in a few drops of mineral spirits or denatured alcohol (e.g. adding solvents back in). I tried denatured alcohol but didn't have any luck with it...

Decided it was better to just drop $8 on a new 3oz bottle rather than risk losing 2 weeks worth of copper and gold leaf work I'd done on the scales (a lot of trial and error) if it didn't go on right and had to be stripped back off.

Oh, and remember to store the bottle upside down so the air-gap-induced skin forms at the 'bottom' of the bottle rather than near the mounth.

**robert2286** · 02-06-2014, 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by Malacoda

Thanks.

TruOil does have a short shelf life. I saw a theory somewhere online that it's because the solvents can slowly vent out through the plastic bottle over time as well as through the cap seal. It should last a fair bit longer than two weeks though...

I usually get about 2-4 months out of it before gums up into a think molasses-like consistency. However I made the mistake of completely removing the foil seal from the bottle. A better idea is to just poke a toothpick size hole in it - which will be more than enough to let out the 3-4 drops you'll need on your finger for each coat on each scale (2 drops for each side of each scale). May add another month or two of shelf life.

I've also heard that some guys have had luck thinning gooey truoil back to normal consistency by mixing in a few drops of mineral spirits or denatured alcohol (e.g. adding solvents back in). I tried denatured alcohol but didn't have any luck with it...

Decided it was better to just drop $8 on a new 3oz bottle rather than risk losing 2 weeks worth of copper and gold leaf work I'd done on the scales (a lot of trial and error) if it didn't go on right and had to be stripped back off.

Oh, and remember to store the bottle upside down so the air-gap-induced skin forms at the 'bottom' of the bottle rather than near the mounth.

Great advise! Gracias!

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