Tru-Oil or Tung Oil which is better

LOL...good point :). I actually meant to type 5 "drops"....don't know what I was thinking/typing :D Thats based on about 250 ml, but I usually mix up around 500 ml of finish at a time....if you mix too much and don't use it it gels in 3 days or so.

The thing with JD is that you really can't go wrong with it....mix up as much finish as you think you'll use in a couple of days and pour in a capfull of JD, stir and get to work ;)

WW.
 
WW: To each his own, however:
The advantages of Tru Oil over a shellac/alcohol carrier finish are many. 1. Very easy to apply 2. No alcohol vapor 3. No particular special materials or tools required 4. Can be applied to create a very smooth, flat finish i.e. a guitar top, or a multi-coat "open pore" finish, a natural for stocks 5. Gives a flexible finish, unlike french polish which will "check" in time, meaning it WILL crack 6. Doesn't require any particular level of skill, unlike shellac/alcohol/etc blends that finish up in appearance-satisfaction directly relative to the skill of the finisher, and french polishing is a very refined technique demanding great skill and experience.
And yes, Tru Oil contains varnish - a reactive type meaning it hardens on contact with oxygen, but the base is linseed oil combined with other natural oils.
Incidentally, almost all guitar builders use proprietary concoctions very similar to Tru Oil on the necks of most guitars for a few reasons as well: less finger friction, more durable and better "feel". Guitar builders almost exclusively use a nitrocellulose lacquer, finely sprayed in layers and temp controlled to manage the evaporation rates. Useless for stocks, as the components include some very nasty carcinogens, typically toluene, xylene and other high powered HC solvents. Fr Polish is used typically by master classical guitar makers more for the fact that it has historically been the method of choice and is only done extremely well by a gifted and practiced few.
Using shellac/alcohol blends for hunting rifle stocks is akin to buying prohibitively expensive rifles to hunt in the swamp with. Okay for some, but senseless for most but great if you can.
Tru Oil was used for a repair I had to do to a "repair" a well known luthier attempted on a very valuable guitar, the top, of mine. His French polishing not only didn't match the appearance or color. the feel was all wrong and took over 18 months to do - the curing time for these type of finishes is measured in months, whether you know it or not. Tru Oil? Days. Repairing? Fine - a simple alcohol/white shellac mix is easy, but Tru Oil is as easy and blends in as clean as can be and once it's dry it's tough and ready to go.
 
Very well written....in fact, it's very close to some of my published work on finish types and applications.

Anyway:

I never said TO was not a good choice for stocks....nor did I say that French polish was a good choice for stocks.

I was simply replying to the statement that Luthiers have switched to Tru-Oil rather than FP....and I stand by that.

Any true Luthier wouldn't dream of putting an oil/varnish blend on tonewood....you just don't do it. The neck of a guitar? OK, it would work, (Although I prefer an ebony, snakewood, bloodwood or Bubinga neck, and most don't accept oil well anyhow)...but why?

And again, this isn't just an opinion....it's what I do for a living.
 
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