sexybeast Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 (edited) My body's getting near completion and the more I sand the Basswood, the more the grain looks good to me. I wanna do a natural finish and I hear Tru-Oil does a good job. I know Basswood's not the best for staining, but I thought maybe oil or something like that would give a nice finish. I just hate to paint over the beautiful wood. Any suggestions? A decent oil finish would be preferable to a paintjob in my opinion. Any heplful suggestion are appreciated. Edited May 22, 2005 by sexybeast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 I mean, it's your call and your guitar, but an oil finish over Basswood would be a relic'ed instrument in less than a month. Basswood is soft as hell, and an oil finish gives basically -no- protection at all as far as bumps and dings go, so in the protection department, you're batting a big zero with oil over Basswood. You hit that instrument on anything, it's dented, guaranteed. You bump it 5 times in a month, it's dented 5 times. Not dissing Tru-Oil or anything, but that combination will yield you a dented instrument for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexybeast Posted May 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Yeah, I know. That really sucks, too. Anything else that'd give me the feel of the wood? Maybe not 100%, but better than paint and clearcoat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
backwoodsguitars Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Yeah, I know. That really sucks, too. Anything else that'd give me the feel of the wood? Maybe not 100%, but better than paint and clearcoat? ← I always use oil of some kind on all of my guitars, I have used tung oil and boiled linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil dries fairly hard and still looks good. It will give your wood a warmth that you will not believe. If you use it get boiled linseed oil. The boiled version has chemical driers added that will cause the oil to set up/dry in 12 hours to 18 hours. If you get regular it will take probably several weeks to set up. I like to "wet" sand it in on my last application. It make a "mud" that will fill any pore or void in the wood. brush it on let it sit 10 to 15 min. wipe it off. Wait an hour and do it again. I like to do it about 10 to 12 times. If you "wet" sand ((wet the sandpaper with oil)the last coat gently wipe it off and dont touch it for about 18 hours. This will give the "mud" time to dry hard in the pores. I then lightly rub it with 0000 steel wool and then use paste wax on it. I have seen tru oil used also and it looks great. But I know from experience that the linseed oil will give it a hardness. If you ever need to repair it you absolutely cannot see where your reapplied the linseed oil. I think you will be happy with any type of oil you choose!! Backwoods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 if you seal the hell out of the wood.. then do 15-20 really light coats of tru-oil/naptha blend you should have a hard finish that will be a descent protection.. Basswood is very soft though and the oil will probide little or no protection to dings and such.. Tru-oil has a lot of non-oil stuff in it and actually makes a thich hard finish if done right.. It's not like just using a pure oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 (edited) if you seal the hell out of the wood.. then do 15-20 really light coats of tru-oil/naptha blend you should have a hard finish that will be a descent protection.. Basswood is very soft though and the oil will probide little or no protection to dings and such.. Tru-oil has a lot of non-oil stuff in it and actually makes a thich hard finish if done right.. It's not like just using a pure oil. ← My fear with the basswood is that being so soft if you did ding it, its going to crack a big old chunk out of the finish. But the oil will be more forgiving in that respect. Just MHO Edit: Just as I was reading over my post It occoured to me that the stuff im using for grain filler right now would prob provide a nice base for it. Its an amber colored 2 part epoxy used for raido controled airplane fuselages. Its an amber color and fills really nicely. Just a thought for a little durability. Edited May 23, 2005 by GuitarGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Basswood is very soft though and the oil will probide little or no protection to dings and such.. BOOYAH!!!!!!! DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Basswood is very soft though and the oil will probide little or no protection to dings and such.. BOOYAH!!!!!!! DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH........... ← I think you missed my point. Have you ever sprayed poly or lacquer over balsa? If it gets hit its like squashing a bug, the inside is soft the outside is hard like an egg. Either way its going to get dinged but the oil would not show as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Basswood is very soft though and the oil will probide little or no protection to dings and such.. BOOYAH!!!!!!! DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH........... ← I think you missed my point. Have you ever sprayed poly or lacquer over balsa? If it gets hit its like squashing a bug, the inside is soft the outside is hard like an egg. Either way its going to get dinged but the oil would not show as much. ← You thinking that oil at least wouldn't shatter like hard poly? or spider crackle like lacquer? perhaps, but it's not like it will snap back and look great. It will mar. Something like tru oil, or a tung oil finish coat aren't just oil. They are oil mixed with varnish. The oil soaks in, the varnish hardens, and in the end it's not like you have a shell of "oil" on the guitar.. so you could still have problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamrock Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 I don't know too much about basswood but I do know about Boiled linseed oil. I am a volunteer firefighter and we use boiled linseed oil on all of our wooden axe handles and shovel handles. The finish is almost impossible to ruin. I realize that hickory is alot harder than basswood but we put those tools through some pretty rough abuse and they hardly show the wear on the handles. One drawback is that they have to be touched up with the boiled linseed oil about every 6 months. So, as long as you don't use your guitar to chop any holes in the roof or open any burning car hoods, the linseed oil may work. I would still prefer french polish if you want a nice luster and a little bit of protection. Just my $0.02. I guess that would be 1/2 cent after taxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexybeast Posted May 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Hey Shamrock, I'm a firefighter too! Or was, rather, Asthma ended that after 15 years. AAAaaanyway, thanks for the reminder about the axe handles. I'm giving this axe to my son, who's nine years old at this time. If he keeps this guitar for a long time it's going to get the ctap beat out of it, I'm beginning to realize. If I really want it to last, maybe paint would be the way to go. I'm planning another guitar and maybe I'll do a better job ofplanning and buy some harder, more beautiful wood. Anyone think this thing would survive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank falbo Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 It's a recipe for disaster. The only time an oil finish should be used on Basswood is if it won't be used. So a picture frame, a carving, etc. Something decorative. No matter how much you build any oil finish, you'll still be able to take your nail across it and leave a line. Every pick scratch is permanent. The only "natural" finish I'd use is a hard satin poly like Defthane. The satin will help your eye think it's natural, but it'll be better protected. An epoxy based filler is a great idea, but Basswood doesn't have any open pores to speak of, so you'd end up with more of a surface coating. Still that might be a good idea before the poly. Or you can give the whole guitar a superglue bath! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 There you go.. a CA dip.. That could be cool.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexybeast Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Here's what really sucks. I promised it to him a while ago, but now he could give a rat's ass about guitar and lessons. In that light I think I'm gonna paint it and do what I said earlier and pick better wood for mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum5545 Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Basswood? Paint it. Or if you really like the grain, go for a nice, thick clearcoat. Otherwise, it'll never survive. I have a walnut bass I made with a tung oil finish, and it's already dented and dinged more than I'd like (or expected). If I could call a do-over, I definitely would have used a hard finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Frank's idea of the CA application is I think, the best idea. Gotta have a respirator and goggles tho for a few minutes while applying it. But it will work great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexybeast Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 How do I get my hands on CA? is it pretty common? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 How do I get my hands on CA? is it pretty common? ← Superglue Or epoxy, take your pick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 CA= Cyanoacrylate Adhesive = Superglue basically. I use Hot Stuff, but it's available under different brand names thru any guitar supply outlet. I tend to use the medium viscosity for most applications, but I think for your purposes, I would use the thin viscosity, it will really seep into all the pores and fibers of the Basswood. Once you get a coat or two of CA on and sand flat, you can then apply any finish you want over top. PS, I'm dead serious about the respirator and goggles. If you don't have them, the fumes will drive you away from the piece at the exact time you want to be applying it into the pores. You won't be able to get near it for 3-4 minutes w/o the protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VanKirk Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 Out of all my test scraps that I did last year with Tung-oil, Tru-oil & Danish oil the toughest finish and the one that really popped the grain nicely (on Alder and flamed Maple) was the Danish oil cleared with Minwax poly-u. Being test pieces, I purposely scratched them by dragging some small weights across them. All three were pretty close for popping the grain but that poly-u is pretty hard to ding. I got a fever! and the only prescription is more cow bell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 "I put on my pants the same way as anybody else... one leg at a time. Except, when I put my pants on, I make gold records." I'll have to have a look for that Hot Stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 Something like tru oil, or a tung oil finish coat aren't just oil. To clarify, Tung Oil is a REAL oil. It's just that most things that say Tung Oil on them either have little or no Tung Oil in them. I personally only use Behlen's PURE Tung Oil. It is oil from the Nut of the Tung tree. Personally, I prefer a resonant instrument, and I've found very few poly coated instruments that are as resonant as my Tung Oil instruments. I'm not saying there is any magic to resonant wood, just that I prefer it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Check out the BSB conversion tutorial. Ive had that guitar for quite awhile and have gigged it pretty heavily. It has hardly a scratch or dent. But Im pretty easy on my instruments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted May 29, 2005 Report Share Posted May 29, 2005 Sexybeast - I had the chance to feel up a nice piece of basswood at our local specailty wood place and I think I'll retract my last thoughts. Its seems to me to pass the fingernail test better than the oak I have. So no matter what you put on it, I dont think you will have as much trouble as you have been lead to believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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