TruOil drying issues?

[Vince_P9]

Hey all.
I'm in the process of finishing a ply bass. I gave it a base coat of thinned shellac sealer, sanded with 220, and followed with a coat water based analine dye. For the finish I'm using alternate coats of clear TruOil and color pigmented TruOil(applied with a rag, steel wool in between, color pigment from International Violin). Is there any reason it would not be drying completely, or is it normal for it to be taking as long as it is to dry to a hard finish? I'm on the 4th coat of oil and after 3 days of allowing said coat to dry, its still kind of gummy, catching under my fingernails if I run my fingertips gently along the bass. I'm fairly positive I gave the first 3 coats ample time to dry (several hours for the first coat which was fairly thin, increasing to 24 hours for the 3rd coat). Can anyone help me out? Thanks.

[George700DL]

Originally Posted by Vince_P9

Hey all.
I'm in the process of finishing a ply bass. I gave it a base coat of thinned shellac sealer, sanded with 220, and followed with a coat water based analine dye. For the finish I'm using alternate coats of clear TruOil and color pigmented TruOil(applied with a rag, steel wool in between, color pigment from International Violin). Is there any reason it would not be drying completely, or is it normal for it to be taking as long as it is to dry to a hard finish? I'm on the 4th coat of oil and after 3 days of allowing said coat to dry, its still kind of gummy, catching under my fingernails if I run my fingertips gently along the bass. I'm fairly positive I gave the first 3 coats ample time to dry (several hours for the first coat which was fairly thin, increasing to 24 hours for the 3rd coat). Can anyone help me out? Thanks.

This is not exactly helpful to your situation, but in January this year I did that whole curing test: I took a piece of plexiglass and poured 3 different varnishes on it: TruOil, Formby's "Tung Oil Finish", and Minwax's polyurethane (thinned down, wipe-on type). The next day, the poly was the hardest (and thickest). Formby's was a bit thinner and nearly as hard, and TruOil was soft and gummy. I finished my bass with Formby's after the test and after some recommendations here.

TruOil never struck me as a very hard finish, but perhaps that is a good thing for a double bass.

Maybe increased heat + airflow can speed things up a bit? Also, did it rain in NY over the last few days? The increased humidity affects drying time I'm sure.

Over the weekend I finished a bow frog that I made from a piece of indian rosewood, and I applied 2 very thin coats of polyurethane to them, with 2 days of drying for each. As of this morning, it is still tacky. For this reason I dislike rosewood - pain in the neck to finish, unless I'm doing something really wrong.

George

[Eric Hochberg]

I had a major touchup done on my bass a few years ago. Not sure what the clear coat finish was, but my luthier told me it was taking a very long time to dry in the humid summer weather. I recall it was about ten days before he felt comfortable about putting it in the bag so I could take it home.

[powerbass]

I would be concerned about the shellac/linseed oil compatibility. I have applied nitro lacquer over shellac but never a linseed oil based product on top of shellac. The best oil or varnish drying conditions is very low humidity and temperatures in the 70's - mid summer is not the ideal time - a heated workshop in winter is better. Maybe you checked this out http://www.lmii.com/carttwo/truoil.htm. I would contact LMI they may have ideas

[draftsmann]

I used Tru Oil with added artists' oil paints for the intermediate colour glaze coats on my project bass. A thin coat of Tru Oil alone dries pretty quickly - I found two coats per day easily do-able. Mixed with artists' oils, drying time slowed considerably - but the Tru Oil did act as an accelerator as oil paint usually is very slow drying.

What I did was to apply one coat per day of the colour glaze, just giving the lightest denib before applying the next coat with well-worn 400 grit paper. I also found it best to apply the colour glaze coats deftly and decisively, without working those coats over the surface too much, as otherwise the underlying coat had a tendency to begin softening. After the colour glaze coats I left it a good long time (from memory 2+ weeks) before cutting back in earnest and applying the final clear coats.

I'm very happy with the final finish.