Sealing wood help?

[hooky_lowdown]

As a little project to keep me entertained, I got myself a p bass kit from DVD247 - super cheap. It arrived today, and I'm pretty impressed with the wood on the neck and body, both have a nice weight and grain. The body needs some sanding which I'll do over the weekend. I will need to seal the wood on both neck and body. Having done a little research I don't plan on coating the body in layers of poly, but keep the wood as natural as possible. I'm thinking of using 3 or 4 coats of pure tung oil, as I want a matte to silk finish, to retain the pale wood look.

 

My question is, has anyone used pure tung oil and if so, any tips? I plan on applying a diluted first couple coats, and wipe away any excess after 10 mins or so. Then coats 3 and 4 will be full strength. Is there any prep work I should do before applying the oil, other then sanding down and cleaning the wood? I don't require a professional look, as its only a cheap bass. But any other ideas to seal the wood would be appreciated, especially if they require as little amount of work as possible?

 

[T-Bay]

Slightly off topic but I find the DV247 website horrendous, it’s so hard to find anything on there.

i haven’t used Tung oil, but have used all sorts of oils on a wide variety of woods over the year. The way I do the first coat is by finishing the prep, the doing a final rub over with very fine wire wool or 6000 grit pads then a generous wipe over with methylated spirit. Then leave for a short while and apply the oil using a very clean rag, old t shirt is ideal.

[Geek99]

Ask @Andyjr1515

[jebroad]

15 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Ask @Andyjr1515

I agree

[Andyjr1515]

3 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

Ask @Andyjr1515

Well, for the specific question I'm not much help - but I do know that some builders do use tung oil.  Personally, for exactly that kind of finish and organic feel you talk about - and the ease of application, I use Tru-oil (for which a small 3fl oz bottle will do a couple of basses).

For that (and I would have thought Tung Oil would work in a similar way) I use a 'slurry and buff' approach:

• Couple of coats let soak in and dry to do an initial seal
• A coat, using 400 grit wet and dry with the wet provided by the oil rather than water (rubber gloves essential) creating a slurry of oil and very fine sandings.  This acts as a superb colour compatible grain filler.
• Wipe off back to wood after 5-10 mins.  Let it dry
• Repeat last step
• Repeat last step but this time using 800 grit and not only wipe off, but buff it dry with a lint-free cloth (this is the bit that may be different with tung-oil)
• Sometimes needs a final repeat of the last step

This bubinga fretless was done like that and, other than an occasional dust, has had nothing done in the past 3 years.  The guys at the Midlands Bass Bash will vouch that it still looks like this and feels just how it looks:

 

I used the same technique with Osmo Polyx on @TheGreek 's Psilos bass (sycamore and maple) and that worked just as well - which is why I suspect it would work just as well with tung oil...

 

[ped]

I have a tung oil finish in an instrument and wondered what’s best to clean it with? Any ideas? Seems like a damp cloth is good but perhaps there’s some nice product I can waste money on?

[TheGreek]

On 5/11/2018 at 18:54, ped said:

perhaps there’s some nice product I can waste money on?

A man after my own heart....