All ready for the first coat of tung oil, followed by more sanding, I suspect.
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New Build - Five String single cutaway fretless
- Thread starter Jisch
- Start date
Gathering supplies to start the finishing process - I use the bright LED light from my helmet to look at the finish using the reflection of the light in the finish to find missed spots etc:
I had a problem when coating the fingerboard where the dark side of the cocobolo bled over onto the whiter side, I had to sand the first coat of CA back to wood to start over. I didn't want that to happen on the rest of the bass so I taped off the dark side. I hit it with a light coat of tung oil, let it dry for a few minutes before putting oil on the bass as a whole:
Of course the first coat shows problems that need to be fixed. It looks like I got a spot of CA glue on the front of the bass, you can just make it out on the bass side right near the end of the fretboard. I'll need to sand back - I'm sure there are other smaller issues too.
I selected this maple for the neck because of the figuring, but after staring at it for so long I kind of forgot just how figured the wood is. It really popped when the oil hit it.
The taping off process worked perfectly the lines between the dark and light cocobolo and between the fingerboard and neck are crisp. I'll let this dry for a few hours and maybe at lunch I'll do an assessment of what additional sanding is needed besides that CA glue spot.
I had a problem when coating the fingerboard where the dark side of the cocobolo bled over onto the whiter side, I had to sand the first coat of CA back to wood to start over. I didn't want that to happen on the rest of the bass so I taped off the dark side. I hit it with a light coat of tung oil, let it dry for a few minutes before putting oil on the bass as a whole:
Of course the first coat shows problems that need to be fixed. It looks like I got a spot of CA glue on the front of the bass, you can just make it out on the bass side right near the end of the fretboard. I'll need to sand back - I'm sure there are other smaller issues too.
I selected this maple for the neck because of the figuring, but after staring at it for so long I kind of forgot just how figured the wood is. It really popped when the oil hit it.
The taping off process worked perfectly the lines between the dark and light cocobolo and between the fingerboard and neck are crisp. I'll let this dry for a few hours and maybe at lunch I'll do an assessment of what additional sanding is needed besides that CA glue spot.
It looks like my tung oil went bad (I just bought it in December?). Five hours later and it's still really tacky. Ugh. Have to see what it's like later tonight or tomorrow.
I'm not sure if it's the can of tung oil that's bad or it's just a bad reaction to the cocobolo. The body is pretty much dry, but the edges of the fretboard and the headstock are still really sticky. I bought some wipe on poly, I guess I'll see what the bass feels like in the morning. It's not that cold here, but I put a portable heater in the room where the bass is drying for the last six hours, it's definitely warm enough in there. Even when I posted earlier this afternoon the body was still sticky, so I suspect it's the tung oil itself. I liked buying those smaller bottles of Formby's Tung Oil as I would use just about one bottle for a bass. I think this can of Minwax is 4x more volume, I hate wasting this much!
Has anyone had cocobolo have a weird reaction to an oil based finish? It's going to be painful to take this finish off, although I guess there's not very much finish there.
Has anyone had cocobolo have a weird reaction to an oil based finish? It's going to be painful to take this finish off, although I guess there's not very much finish there.
Ahhhhh the joys of cocobolo. Believe me when I say, it's not the tung oil, my friend.
Cocobolo has a very high oil content on its own, so adding more oil to the top just kind of creates a sticky mess. Chances are, if it's not dry by now, it never will be. If I were you, I'd remove the oil from the coco and simply buff up the coco using mineral spirits and increasingly finer sandpaper. You can then get some shine to it using wax. Cocobolo is beautiful stuff, but gluing is tough and finishing is very challenging. Good luck and let me know if you have questions.
Lonnybass
(Fun Fact: Minwax "tung oil" is not actually tung oil at all - there are better "true" tung oils out there. Minwax labeling at its finest!).
ugh, ok. I know that the tung oil I'm using isn't real tung oil - that's kind of why I was thinking it would work here (the poly part of the finish would set). I'll strip what's on there in the morning, buffing and waxing seems like a good alternative. I could also do light coat of CA, I'll have to see how everything works out.
What's the best way of removing it? I'm thinking brute force with steel wool? I imagine it will take multiple iterations of gunked up pads.
Thanks for the input!
What's the best way of removing it? I'm thinking brute force with steel wool? I imagine it will take multiple iterations of gunked up pads.
Thanks for the input!
Mineral spirits and some rags should get the job done nicely. You could also try a little acetone too. It should come off pretty easily. Look on the bright side…the cocobolo wants the Minwax off of there just as much as you do.
Oh and I used the minwax tung oil on my last project, it came out pretty nice. I have a friend who only uses real tung oil on his projects, it surely doesn't offer the same protection as this does, never mind the dry times. I've also used Formby's (which I know is also not Tung oil) and had good luck with that too.
Funny you should mention that stuff, I've used them both and had good luck with them early on. Lately I've been digging on the General Finishes Seal-A-Cell/Arm-R-Seal combo, which seems to work really well in deep penetrating grain enhancement followed by hard nicely leveling topcoats. Worth checking out for sure.
Thanks!
I really enjoy building and learning new stuff as I go. LC is a great community, so rare to find a place on the internet that's so encouraging and helpful, I'm glad I can contribute in some way.
Just as an update to the cocobolo story: I wiped off the tung oil (I know it's not tung oil, but I'm going to call it that) using mineral spirits, it came off really easily. Interestingly the light side of the cocobolo was dry and the dark side was a mess. From my experience working it, the dark side was softer and produced a very fine sawdust that stuck to everything (oily) and the light side was much harder and produced "normal" sawdust. I polished it up quickly using steel wool and 1500 grit sandpaper, it looks great - very smooth, though not super shiny. It was just a quick test, I'll finish it off later and I suspect adding some wax will make it pretty good, I just hope I can make it look close enough to the rest of the bass that it's not noticeable. Alternatively I can coat it with CA and move forward from there. I'll try burnishing and waxing on a scrap and decide what to do from there.
For now I taped off all the cocobolo (light and dark sides), I'll continue with the tung oil on the rest of the bass and figure out what to do with the cocobolo on test pieces while that process continues.
For now I taped off all the cocobolo (light and dark sides), I'll continue with the tung oil on the rest of the bass and figure out what to do with the cocobolo on test pieces while that process continues.
Hopkins
Commercial User
Ahhhhh the joys of cocobolo. Believe me when I say, it's not the tung oil, my friend.
Cocobolo has a very high oil content on its own, so adding more oil to the top just kind of creates a sticky mess. Chances are, if it's not dry by now, it never will be. If I were you, I'd remove the oil from the coco and simply buff up the coco using mineral spirits and increasingly finer sandpaper. You can then get some shine to it using wax. Cocobolo is beautiful stuff, but gluing is tough and finishing is very challenging. Good luck and let me know if you have questions.
Lonnybass
(Fun Fact: Minwax "tung oil" is not actually tung oil at all - there are better "true" tung oils out there. Minwax labeling at its finest!).
Most tung oils aren't tung oils. Formby's is just linseed oil and varnish, I suppose that minwax is the same.
I guess as sort of a test I polished up the knobs that have a cocobolo top - after looking at these close pictures I can see that I need to get some scratches out, but they buff up nicely. If I can do the same with the headstock I should be fine.
I guess as sort of a test I polished up the knobs that have a cocobolo top - after looking at these close pictures I can see that I need to get some scratches out, but they buff up nicely. If I can do the same with the headstock I should be fine.
Those look amazing!
Sorry for continual updates, but it's only electrons right? I still think there is something amiss with this tung oil, I put a second coat on the rest of the bass this morning and it's still very tacky. The last time I used this stuff it dried very quickly - dry to the touch in an hour, many times I was applying the second coat within a couple hours. It was hanging in my heated basement for a couple hours, now out in the windy garage for another couple and it's still really tacky. I think I'll try a coat of the wipe on poly.
Are you putting the tung oil on thick or thin? If it's going on thick, maybe try going thinner.
Also, now might be a good time to double check the level-ness of the fingerboard before you buff it up. Speaking from experience, it sucks to think that it's done and then realize the fingerboard needs to be leveled out again after the finish/buff is done.
Also, now might be a good time to double check the level-ness of the fingerboard before you buff it up. Speaking from experience, it sucks to think that it's done and then realize the fingerboard needs to be leveled out again after the finish/buff is done.
The fingerboard is already coated in CA - I had no issues getting the CA to stick to the cocobolo board. I had a couple of high spots that needed addressing and I did that before I started the CA process. I may need to do some minor adjustments after, it looks good, but it doesn't take much to make a high spot.
My main concern right now is the headstock, but after doing the knobs, I think I'll be able to get away with a buff and wax job.
My main concern right now is the headstock, but after doing the knobs, I think I'll be able to get away with a buff and wax job.
The second coat is now dry, I'll try one more coat before giving up on tung oil. Perhaps it's ok and I'm just being impatient. In the daylight I saw a bunch of minor scratches and had to sand some of it back to wood, so the next coat will be the first "real" coat.
As I go through a build there comes a point where I realize I will soon have a new bass to play, that thought just occurred to me - I could have a new bass by the end of the weekend - pretty exciting! Up until that moment of realization I'm entirely concentrated on the construction and not on the new instrument.
As I go through a build there comes a point where I realize I will soon have a new bass to play, that thought just occurred to me - I could have a new bass by the end of the weekend - pretty exciting! Up until that moment of realization I'm entirely concentrated on the construction and not on the new instrument.
