Tru-Oil Alternative

Cliff, is the finish harder than Tru-Oil? The softness of the finish (and the cost) are the only things I have against it. LOVE the look.
 
Aardvark said:
Cliff, is the finish harder than Tru-Oil? The softness of the finish (and the cost) are the only things I have against it. LOVE the look.
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I am using Minwax Wipe-On Poly over Tru-oil to put a nice hard coat on my basses in progress. Seems to work well.
 
Phil, does the finish still have that 'looking through glass' affect after the poly? That's what I really love about the Tru-Oil.
 
Sounds like something good. Is it polyurethane? That should be harder than Tru-Oil. Thinning it down should allow it to penetrate the wood well, which is what you want.

When sanding Tru-Oil between coats, I keep my 800 or 1000 grit sandpaper in a bowl of water and wet-sand it. That keeps the paper from gumming up. I empty the bowl after using, and fill it up the next night for the next coat.

Steve
 
Aardvark said:
Phil, does the finish still have that 'looking through glass' affect after the poly? That's what I really love about the Tru-Oil.
Click to expand...


Hmm. Not really sure. I got the advice from a professional Luthier to keep my bass body from nicking and denting. It's retaining most of the depth but perhaps not all. I dunno. Looks good to me.
 
Well, that's a couple of new finishes to try. Thanks to both Cliff and Phil for the tips.

Mainly, I use them to finish the handles of kitchen knives. I buy the blades, then put scales on them.

I got tired of the drying times during the winter months, so I put them in a 140 degree (F) oven for 3 or 4 hours between coats. Makes a nice (quick) finish for polyurethane.
 
An old-time finish used by furniture folks is 1/3 spar varnish, 1/3 boiled linseed oil and 1/3 mineral spirits. Wipe on, let sit 15-20 minutes, wipe off and let dry 24 hours and repeat until satisfied. I use 4/0 steel wool to wipe it off, followed by a paper towel. A couple of coats of paste wax finishes the job.
Warning:
With any oil finish, rags saturated with it can ignite spontaneously if left wadded up. Oil finishesl "dry" by oxidation, and this produces heat. Always spread them out flat to dry before tossing them, or keep them in a closed metal can.
 
I had a look at the alder back on my Precision bass, and the grain still lights up under the Wipe-On Poly coat. Seems to work fine. Try it on some scrap if in doubt.

Phil
 
I agree, high gloss is not good for handles of any kind. You can cut the gloss several ways:
Sanding with, say, 320 grit paper
Rubbing it out with 3/0 or 4/0 steel wool
Substituting Tung Oil for linseed oil, which tends to be less glossy
Using satin varnish instead of gloss varnish
My favorite way:rubbing it out with Pumice Stone and mineral oil using a pad of folded cloth or soft felt. You can get pumice at many paint stores.
Good luck :D
 
Thanks for the follow-up, Cliff. I won't be using it for kitchen knife handles, then.
 
You have discovered the dirty little secret of polyurethane varnish. It doesn't penetrate, and sits on top. Oil, on the other hand goes into the wood fibers.
 
Brian, is the spar varnish that you mentioned in your 'old time' formula polyurethane? Either way, does your formula penetrate?

I'm looking for a very durable, grippy finish for the kitchen knives.
 
I prefere good old fashioned spar varnish, if I can find it. Some marine stores sell a Dutch varnish called "Epifanes" which the bamboo flyrod makers like a lot. PPG varnish is also well respected, but I'm told they sell off poor batches to private-label brands like Ace hardware. Hold out for the real stuff.
Yes, it penetrates, and as I said, I wipe off the excess after 15-20 minutes, so it's just in the wood, not on it.
Probably the high-end wood working stores sell good spar varnish. Wooodcraft, Highland Hardware, Lee Valley...are a few.
:D
 
Thanks.

Let me ask the question a little differently: does the term "spar varnish" by itself give you any indication of whether the product is polyurethane or not?
 
There are a number of gunstock finishes available that will probably work well for our khuk. handles. Check Brownells or Midway on-line catalogs. I have had good results using Permalyn Sealer by Laural Mountain. This is a very thinned finish that soaks into the wood, or can be built-up over a series of coats to look like a polyurethane finish. Whichever you prefer.

On rifle stocks I have used a drying box to get the finish to dry when humidity levels are high. Just find some kind of box enclosure large enough for the khuk and put a very low wattage light bulb inside. You don't want high heat...just enough to drive the humidity out of the box. I'm thinking night light bulb size (4/5 watts) unless you go with a really large box. In gunstock size boxes I never used larger than a 20 watt bulb.

Jeff
 
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