5-string Carl Thompson inspired bass, "Black Rainbow/Night Rainbow"

[Grant Bass]

yes; verrrry nice!!

[Prostheta]

I've never had that problem Rob. I'll certainly be careful now you mention it though. I'm sure a wipe-on poly will be different as Tru-oil is still a penetrating oil finish. Repairs and maintenance are a simple case of sanding and reapplication, with these subsequent layers blending in. What recipe did you use? I'd like to experiment.

[roberthabraken]

Originally Posted by Prostheta

I've never had that problem Rob. I'll certainly be careful now you mention it though. I'm sure a wipe-on poly will be different as Tru-oil is still a penetrating oil finish. Repairs and maintenance are a simple case of sanding and reapplication, with these subsequent layers blending in. What recipe did you use? I'd like to experiment.

I didn't mix it myself but acquired it via a friend from a luthier. Not sure it's a poly now, maybe an oil, I still keep finding it hard to translate finishing terms. But I see what you mean. Probably it's also a penetrating oil finish and I could do the same as you did.

[Meatrus]

Originally Posted by Prostheta

I've never had that problem Rob. I'll certainly be careful now you mention it though. I'm sure a wipe-on poly will be different as Tru-oil is still a penetrating oil finish. .

Truoil is very much in the same family as wipe on poly....both are wiping varnishes.

P****d off my computer is playing up and I cant see the pics!

[Prostheta]

Aha, so it straddles the gap between the two then? Thanks for clarifying. I'm having problems with Network Solutions at the moment so my domain is on hold. I hate them and have done for years. I want to leave but they make it difficult and inconvenient to do so.

[gyancey]

Looks great. Makes me want to try Tru-oil again after abandoning it for 10 years or so. Did you get any bleed or color contamination on the neck laminates during the sanding with oil phase?

[Prostheta]

I didn't have problems with the adjacent Wenge/Birch, thankfully. I've had all kind of issues before with mating Padauk and lighter woods but Wenge has been pretty forgiving. I tend to do a lot of scraping rather than sanding on necks, especially when there are woods like Wenge with large differentiations between the softer/harder early/late woods which can end up "divoting" when hand sanding.

More photos of the final stages of finishing. The bass is currently here at home being finessed.

[MPU]

That looks nice. I like the look of oiled mahogany.

[Prostheta]

Looks like Network Solutions are holding my domain name to ransom again. Apologies for the borked images.

I don't call Sapele, "Mahogany" on the basis they are two unrelated genuses. They are in the same family, but then again so is Cedrela! For the purposes of guitar making I think that Swietenia is the only wood genus to be referred to as "Mahoganies" whilst Sapele is Sapele.

Call me picky ;-)

I managed to find a couple of good sources of Tru-Oil thanks, MPU. Your help was much appreciated in that regard.

[MPU]

You're welcome. Did you use coffee filter with Tru oil? I tried and liked it.

[Prostheta]

I did. I specifically used the non-bleached filters and they were fantastic for applying oil during the thin coats. They were equally good at buffing off any excess also.

[roberthabraken]

Very, very nice! Could you tell me what the advantage is of a coffee filter over a cotton cloth?

[Prostheta]

A coffee filter is very thin and holds very little oil, therefore spreading the film much thinner also. Dry, they absorb from an applied film very well so they work great as both applicators are for removing excess. Plus, very very cheap!

Cotton tends to gum up, and being a natural fibre it has a tendency to leave fine flecks and fibres in the oil. Plus rags can self-combust apparently. Never seen it myself.