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tru-oil or dye the wood, or both?

Discussion in 'Luthier's Corner' started by duckbutter, Dec 5, 2005.

  1. Dec 5, 2005 #1
    duckbutter

    duckbutter

    Mar 30, 2005
    Okay, here goes. :help:
    I have narrowed it down to 2 finishes for my Frakenjazz project (ash body).

    1 – Black wood dye and poly finish.
    2- tru-oil

    I am still in the painful process of sanding the body down. Since I once painted it improperly, there is still some black paint in the grain (doesn’t look that bad).
    Due to the black paint in the grain I was thinking of just dyeing the wood black to even it all out, and put a poly finish on it. Or, I was thinking I could keep the black in the grain and just coat it with true-oil (I wiped the body down with mineral spirits and it looked pretty cool).

    BTW...if I do dye it, can I put a few coats of tru-oil over the dye?

    Any input would be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. Dec 5, 2005 #2
    Greg Clinkingbeard

    Greg Clinkingbeard Commercial User

    Apr 4, 2005
    Kansas City area
    Black Dog Bass Works
    You can indeed dye the wood and follow with Tru Oil. I did it recently on a project bass.
    If you are going to use black dye there wouldn't be much benefit in using the oil IMO.
     
  3. Dec 5, 2005 #3
    duckbutter

    duckbutter

    Mar 30, 2005
    so, just dye it and poly?

    Does the tru oil darken the wood ( I want the wood dark)?
     
  4. Dec 5, 2005 #4
    Frank Martin

    Frank Martin Bitten by the luthiery bug...

    Oct 8, 2001
    Budapest, Hungary, EU
    The whitish ash turned a faint yellow when I applied TO - it does darken wood a bit.
    However, I don't think TO would give enough protection against dings and such, as ash is very soft. Polyurethane is harder.
     
  5. Dec 5, 2005 #5
    duckbutter

    duckbutter

    Mar 30, 2005
    what about tung oil, then poly?
     
  6. Dec 5, 2005 #6
    Greg Clinkingbeard

    Greg Clinkingbeard Commercial User

    Apr 4, 2005
    Kansas City area
    Black Dog Bass Works
    What about just poly? IMO oil is good to deeply penetrate the wood and deepen the grain. Once you dye the wood black, that may be a moot step.
    I used Minwax wipe on poly with good results. I do agree that Tru Oil by itself is too soft to offer much protection.
     
  7. Dec 6, 2005 #7
    duckbutter

    duckbutter

    Mar 30, 2005
    Minwax, I may go with that, I've seen some nice tone colors.