Roasted maple tru oil - sticky - options?

[darwin-bass]

I applied 3 coats of tru oil to the back of my bare roasted maple Warmoth neck. Smoothed it with 0000 steel wool and then applied a couple coats of carnauba wax.

And the neck is still just a little bit sticky. Ever so slightly more than my Warmoth finished satin neck. It is not as smooth as my bare wenge necks. Maybe I'm just spoiled?

I'm thinking of sanding the finish off and going with a penetrating oil instead. I'm looking for something to give protection to the wood while still allowing it to feel almost raw.

What other wipe on finish should I consider? Watco? Something readily available woudl be best.

 

[TFM94]

Give it some time and play it. I've made the observation that tru oil gives a slightly sticky finish first, but after some weeks of playing all of my tru-oil necks got smoother and now they feel pretty close to a satin finish. Regardless of the wood species, maple, mahogany, wenge... all of them got smoother and faster to play after a while.

Keep in mind that tru oil dries within a few hours, but it still keeps curing for several weeks.

I'd give it at least 1-2 months. If you still don't like the feel then, you can still sand it off and finish it with something else.

 

[darwin-bass]

Good point. I has been a couple weeks and I can't smell any solvent any more (even when I run the back of the neck) but it has only been a couple of weeks.

Truth be told, I'm a bit disappointed in Tru Oil. I wanted an oil that would absorb in and it appears to be more of a wipe on poly that built up on the surface. I'm not sure Watco would be any better / different though.

I ended up putting maybe 6 coats on the headstock and got a nice mostly glossy shine to it. I'm happy with that.

 

[darwin-bass]

... all of my tru-oil necks ... Regardless of the wood species, ...wenge...

So, you've done Tru Oil on a wenge neck? My other 2 raw wood necks are both wenge. I've thought about putting some thin finish off just to protect them from dirt and wondered how well Tru Oil would work on an oily wood like wenge.

 

[Beej]

A few thoughts...

-Tru-oil is closer to a varnish than a 'penetrating oil'.
-Penetrating oil finishes are thin and don't protect very much. IMHO tru-oil or similar provides a better finish.
-In the PNW with our lovely winter humidity, T-O can easily take 2 months to fully cure. I suspect yours is dry but not fully cured, hence the sticky feel.

If you want to sand it back and start over it's easy to do with T-O. You can refinish with something else, but I'd advise against Watco - they will take even longer than T-O to finish, and they are chemically similar. Watco is also closer to a varnish.

Good luck!

 

[micguy]

Drying oils often end up sticky if you apply them too thickly - it's a VERY common mistake that a LOT of people make. I'm pretty sure that's what got you to where you are.

Thin coats and patience is what will get you to where you want to be. Whenever I do finishes, I read the label, and double the time they quote on the label for waiting between coats. In your case, you may have to strip the oil off that's already on there (if it doesn't cure with more time) and start over.

 

[Smith357]

I finish rifle stocks all the time. I prefer pure Tung oil to Tru-Oil but have used Tru-oil with good success, the key to a good hand rubbed oil finish is to rub in the oils until you generate some warmth from friction.

Best way to use Tru-oil is to whisker and sand down to minimum of 400 wet or dry sand paper. Once you've whisker'd and have the neck butter smooth, you can either fill the grain with sealer or use the my prefered method of wet sanding with the Tru-Oil acting as a lube and glue to fill the pores. Wipe it dry and put it in a warm dry place for 48 hours, then apply many thin coats to your base with 24-48 hours drying time between them.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Drying oils often end up sticky if you apply them too thickly - it's a VERY common mistake that a LOT of people make. I'm pretty sure that's what got you to where you are.

Thin coats and patience is what will get you to where you want to be. Whenever I do finishes, I read the label, and double the time they quote on the label for waiting between coats. In your case, you may have to strip the oil off that's already on there (if it doesn't cure with more time) and start over.

A little dab will do ya…like Brylcreem. TO is a hybrid with SOME tung oil, boiled linseed oil, etc. Pure tung oil is miserable to work with and not universally recommended. I use a scant amount on my fingertips and work it in. It’s virtually impossible to apply “too thin” of a coat.

Riis

 

[ColdEye]

I did a tru oil refinish on my old Stingray, took a while to dry out but still played it. Just did 4 coats, still feels good. Did this maybe august of last year.

 

[Ric5]

I applied 3 coats of tru oil to the back of my bare roasted maple Warmoth neck. Smoothed it with 0000 steel wool and then applied a couple coats of carnauba wax.

And the neck is still just a little bit sticky. Ever so slightly more than my Warmoth finished satin neck. It is not as smooth as my bare wenge necks. Maybe I'm just spoiled?

I'm thinking of sanding the finish off and going with a penetrating oil instead. I'm looking for something to give protection to the wood while still allowing it to feel almost raw.

What other wipe on finish should I consider? Watco? Something readily available woudl be best.

carnauba can feel sticky sometimes, but maybe you didn't let the tru oil cure long enough before waxing.. I like to polish in the wax with a scratchy pad or fine steel wool. Also for tru oil the thinner the coats the better it seems to work.

 

[N4860]

Drying oils often end up sticky if you apply them too thickly - it's a VERY common mistake that a LOT of people make. I'm pretty sure that's what got you to where you are.

Thin coats and patience is what will get you to where you want to be. Whenever I do finishes, I read the label, and double the time they quote on the label for waiting between coats. In your case, you may have to strip the oil off that's already on there (if it doesn't cure with more time) and start over.

I used tru oil on my necks too and I was going to suggest this as well. You really only need a very small amount on a paper towel to rub on the neck. I just hold the towel on the opening of the bottle of oil and give it a quick turn over to wet the towel and then use that to rub down the neck. I rub it in along the grain of the neck for a minute to saturate everything and then wipe it off. Give it a few hours and its ready for another coat. On a neck I usually only do 3 or 4 coats just to give it enough of a coating to repel water.

 

[db4124]

I used about 4 coats of tru-oil on the Persimmon neck on my wish bass (avatar photo). I then sanded it with 0000 steel wool with the grain until it was satin smooth. Then buff it with a cotton rag. Turned out very smooth and not sticky at all. I think your mistake was putting wax on it.

 

[darwin-bass]

I did do thin coats (quick damp a paper towel, enough for the whole neck) and let it dry 12 - 24 hours between coats. About 5 days after the last coat I buffed with 0000 steel wool. The finish was stick before the steel wool and better after, but still sticky. I applied wax and it became a bit smoother. But I'm still not there.

 

[RevOgre]

carnauba can feel sticky sometimes, but maybe you didn't let the tru oil cure long enough before waxing.. I like to polish in the wax with a scratchy pad or fine steel wool. Also for tru oil the thinner the coats the better it seems to work.

Was going to say the same about the scratch pad! I do multiple light coats applied with the brown scotch brite

 

[JimmyM]

Good point. I has been a couple weeks and I can't smell any solvent any more (even when I run the back of the neck) but it has only been a couple of weeks.

Truth be told, I'm a bit disappointed in Tru Oil. I wanted an oil that would absorb in and it appears to be more of a wipe on poly that built up on the surface. I'm not sure Watco would be any better / different though.

I ended up putting maybe 6 coats on the headstock and got a nice mostly glossy shine to it. I'm happy with that.

Tru Oil isn’t something that sinks in, as you found out. Tung or teak oil is what you’re looking for, I believe.

 

[SulzerType2]

Tru Oil is a bit odd. I used it on projects years ago but tend to use Danish Oil (Rustins brand) if I want a subtle satin sheen on wood.

Some folk get amazing results applying TO with an old t-shirt to minimally prepped wood. Some folk follow the instructions to the letter and end up running into problems. I definitely sensed a True Oil hype curve a few years ago where people wanted as minimal a finish as possible on bodies and necks. Suddenly all these knotty pine Telecasters were getting built everywhere and finished in TO.

 

[lark_z]

I prefer Danish Oil for the back of the neck. It's basically a mixture of linseed oil with some type of varnish. Less "varnishy" than the TruOil.

 

[Ric5]

I did about 6 thin coats of Tru Oil on this body ... sanding lightly in between and it is now slippery smooth to the touch.

 

[Geogio]

I applied 3 coats of tru oil to the back of my bare roasted maple Warmoth neck. Smoothed it with 0000 steel wool and then applied a couple coats of carnauba wax.

And the neck is still just a little bit sticky. Ever so slightly more than my Warmoth finished satin neck. It is not as smooth as my bare wenge necks. Maybe I'm just spoiled?

I'm thinking of sanding the finish off and going with a penetrating oil instead. I'm looking for something to give protection to the wood while still allowing it to feel almost raw.

What other wipe on finish should I consider? Watco? Something readily available woudl be best.

I would use tung oil. It is used by manufacturers of musical instruments as a oiled finish. You would have to get instructions on application.

I read once where it's applied in light coats and allowed to dry and I think once I read it was somebody had put 10 coats on a bare finish.

Isn't true oil used on gun stocks? Just curious seems a little heavy duty, as in - wood preservation during inclement weather heavy.

 

[rudy4444]

I applied 3 coats of tru oil to the back of my bare roasted maple Warmoth neck. Smoothed it with 0000 steel wool and then applied a couple coats of carnauba wax.

And the neck is still just a little bit sticky. Ever so slightly more than my Warmoth finished satin neck. It is not as smooth as my bare wenge necks. Maybe I'm just spoiled?

I'm thinking of sanding the finish off and going with a penetrating oil instead. I'm looking for something to give protection to the wood while still allowing it to feel almost raw.

What other wipe on finish should I consider? Watco? Something readily available woudl be best.

I'm not a fan of Tru-oil in general.

Several years back I started using one of the "European hard oils" for neck finishing. They were developed and have been used in Europe for decades for finishing wood flooring, so that speaks of their robust nature. I show the appropriate product and how to apply it in one of my posted builds. You can find the details here:

Building A Short Scale P Bass

Here's a quote from that linked section:

"Osmo Polyx-oil is a unique finish, offering a fair amount of abrasion resistance and a really great under-the-hand feel for the neck surface. In addition, it’s super-easy to repair. In the shot of the rear surface control cavity there was a small patch of the gray shielding paint that I accidentally brushed on the body. It required only a few quick swipes with 220 grit sandpaper and a re-wipe of Polyx-oil to fix the problem.

I highly recommend its use as a wipe-on finish; it is unlike anything I’ve ever used before. This stuff has been used in Europe for something like 50 years as a floor finish so it has stood the test of time. Lots of good information if you do a search on the web. It’s expensive, but the small $20 can would do 3 or 4 instruments easily."