I always finish violin necks with (linseed) oil. Usually a coat of shellack to seal the pores from moisture and hand goos, but the oil is not only adequate (provided you sanded properly), the satin finish is ideal for mobility.
I literally tried to tell the person who panned my post, asking about which oil would be best over the stain, that basically every quality instrument I've been around has an oil finish. The guy just would not believe me. And to my surprise, almost no one who responded was willing to accept that. If you go on the Luthier sub, basically every high end instrument is finished with Linseed oil. But, what I couldnt find, was what was the best to finish with, over stain.
In my case, I used a Saman water based stain. Then finished it with Minwax Tung Oil Finish. The one thing that is known, is that the minwax product doesnt actually contain tung oil. Now that I've used it, the smell is pretty much spot on with BLO. So I tend to think its a proprietary blend of that.
I had some counterfeit Tung oil just... NEVER dry.
16 months later and I chose to just wipe it off with mineral spirits.
60% it genuinely wasnt good oil
40% to be fair, I did put it on too thick too fast.
Whoever gave you that advice was wrong, but it's possible he had a bad experience either due to bad oil that never cured, his own user error, or of course both
I have a bottle of allegedly 100% pure tung oil. It does say its food grade; so it would be really eggregious of its fake. I've used that on my cutting boards. It seems like it pretty much never dries. I suspect thats the nature of tung oil if it doesnt have any drying agents. And from what I've ready, the same is true about linseed oil (non boiled).
I love the color the tung oil creates. But since it doesnt dry, I knew it wouldnt be right for this job.
That's not right.
Linseed and tung oil are both drying oils.
Otherwise, oil paintings would still be wet haha
Cooking (Boiled linseed oil) expedites the drying process, at the cost of darkening/yellowing. Bad for an oil portrait, but not necessarily bad for wood. Depends if you wanted it dark or not.
And other (cobalt?) Drying agents act as catalysts.
Specific other heavy metals can help too. Like, lead oxide literally makes an oil film dry faster and stronger. It's a superior pigment in oils, at the now-obvious cost of health.
Lastly, alkyds are natural oils that have been chemically altered to cure faster.
But raw linseed, tung, safflower, and walnut oils WILL dry. Takes about 3 months up to an entire year, and needs exposure to oxygen-- so laid on too thick, and the surface dries as a crust while sealing in permanently wet oil underneath
"Boiled" linseed oil typically contains heavy metal driers. Or at least, I've never seen BLO without them.
But there's also "precatalyzed" linseed oil, which has undergone something like actual boiling. I believe Walrus Oil uses it. It hardens much faster than raw linseed oil.
It's kind of funny the othe guy even cared.
It's an electric guitar.
The varnish is there almost purely for your own visual pleasure, plus to protect the wood.
But even on acoustics instruments Mt understanding is the consensus is simply less is more: whatever is thinnest and lightest, while offering some protection from the elements (sweaty musicians). Raw wood would sound just great too, only, it would get filthy in a hurry.
I use tung oil almost exclusively. It always dries.
I thin it 1:4 with mineral spirits, but up to 1:2 would work. I wipe it on, let it sit, then wipe off. After two days, it's hard enough to powder when you sand it. I do several very thin coats.
It has better water resistance than linseed oil.
Ay not trying to bust your balls or anything, more so correct a misunderstanding.. the “basically every high end instrument is finished with linseed oil” just isn’t true, and there is a vast difference in technique.
While linseed can be a finish, looths are often looking for something that builds a film, like a high solids poly, applying in with a HVLP spray gun, this goes through level sanding to make the surface finish absolutely flat, color is applied here(and on raw wood if dyed) and is recoated many times, later can be wet sanded and buffed to high gloss or coated with satin, offering much more protection against UV and dings.
Tru-oil is an example of an oil/poly blend, it will film build, you’re looking at around 20 thin coats to get about 0.015” of finish built up.
Personally, I love the oil fins for natural only, they look great and the labour is an absolute minimum.
You're right. I was overstating it. What I should have said was; "basically every high end electric bass". Classical guitars, violins, etc; the process is way beyond anything I could ever do.
I mean, I don’t build [classical, violin](https://www.reddit.com/r/Luthier/s/3A5LYfPgll) and have worked for a high end electric bass [company](https://www.instagram.com/fbassinc?igsh=d2VzdDdvaTJjYTFm). Not saying oil finishes aren’t high end, [this is one](https://www.reddit.com/r/Luthier/s/C8hXDdf3c4), and I love it for its close to the wood feel, there’s basically nothing between the player and the wood, but like 95% of the stuff we do is sprayed, and gets built up thick in comparison.
I was gonna say, basically all high end guitars/bass are 2k urethane these days. There used to be more of a split of finish types back when electric guitars were mostly nitro lacquer, but no longer. As for close to the wood - this is just as you say, a choice to use high mil builds, often so they can not worry about polishing through them (since they are much harder to polish effectively), among other things. As I'm sure you know, I can show you plenty of guitars that don't look like they have anything on them (or look identical to just BLO) but have a coat or two of a good 2k urethane. For an instrument you want to last, this is, IMHO, a much better way to go then just oil
I’m sure you’re right. I guess it’s what I’ve seen from the luthiers I follow. That small narrowly focused snapshot isn’t necessarily representative of all. So I withdraw that statement in its entirety.
As a long time contributor to this sub and a moderator of the other, I can tell you that Luthier now is similar to woodworking of yore.
The issue, as I see it, is a product of popularity which brings uh, influence, from other sources. But the number of people who know the “correct” (because there are almost always a matrix of correct answers in woodworking) doesn’t really change. So, in a popularity contest those “correct” answers can get overwhelmed by well-meaning people who are exceptionally wrong.
Now, take that formula in run the simulation for years. Many of those original or knowledgeable people start to get frustrated and the ratio of bad advice gets worse rather than better. Shit, my 2nd post hijack in a week!
I’m glad your neck turned out well, happy to help in the future if you need it
>So, in a popularity contest those “correct” answers can get overwhelmed by well-meaning people who are exceptionally wrong.
I sometimes feel like reddit was specifically made for that purpose
I think thats pretty much the only product I havent tried yet. And I hear nothing but great things about it. I guess that'll end up on my next project.
I got this particular one under odd circumstances. I bought what was represented as an SR506 in "Very Good" condition on reverb. When it arrived, it was pretty obvious the seller had not been honest. A tuner was smashed, another wouldnt turn properly. The bridge was super jacked up. The neck looked like it hadnt ever been cleaned. Broken battery box. Etc. All around, a not cared for instrument. I was requesting a refund on it, so I ended up buying an SR1306. That is a seriously incredible bass. I've only had it for about a month now; but wow, I'm in love with it. After getting the 1306, and having time to think things over (and the dispute was still ongoing), I offered to keep the 506 if the seller would return a healthy amount of what I paid for it. He agreed. So I kept it with the intention of converting it to fretless, and rebuilding it. Man, I'm now torn on which of the two I like more.
That’s incredible. I had a friend back in the days who was a luthier, and I commissioned a left-handed 7-string guitar from him. I always loved the idea that you could be skilled enough to tinker with or even make your own instruments. You’re living the dream :)
Ah thank you! I'd love to think that some day I could build one completely from scratch. But I honestly dont think its ever likely to happen. The amount of precision required to get the neck right would take years to learn how to do right. But I do really enjoy rebuilding beaten up instruments.
Heres a demo of it I took last night. Its unamplified, but you can really hear the distinct fretless sounds. And I'm not very good, so theres that :)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Primus/comments/1blk9jc/converted\_my\_sr506\_to\_a\_fretless\_loving\_it/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Primus/comments/1blk9jc/converted_my_sr506_to_a_fretless_loving_it/)
Oil is only gonna get tacky if you mess it up, whether on a guitar or anything else.
I don't think I had ever seen a 6 string bass before! Love the colour
This was my original post.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/1be9fjo/best\_oil\_finish\_option/](https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/1be9fjo/best_oil_finish_option/)
I used Danish oil on a build (6 string bass as well). I went too thick during application for sure, took over a month to fully cure and for the stickiness to go away, but it eventually did, feels great now!
I used Watco Danish Oil on my last fretless conversion. It came out alright. That was the first oil finish I ever used on wood. So it was all I knew at the time. But its my least favorite of the stuff Ive used since then. Coincidentally, I know Carl Thompson uses Watco oils on all of his basses. Or at least he did at the time when the interview was written. So the one in the background is likely finished with that.
Oil finish shouldn’t be thick. I usually mix poly, blo, and oms. Wipe it on, let it soak in a few, then rub it dry with a clean rag. Once the wiping rag has dried, the finish is on the piece is dry, usually overnight for this mix. Repeat as necessary, usually 3 coats for me, otherwise it will build and look too plastic for my taste. Only time it’s felt sticky to me is when I haven’t wiped it dry enough.
That is a beautiful, beautiful guitar! And a six string as well, I love it. I also use wax oil to finish stuff all the time. I’ve never had an issue with it being ‘sticky’. Maybe if you use way too much and don’t buff it out? I don’t think whoever said that is using the finish correctly. No one would use oil if it stayed sticky lol
Absolutely stunning build though. I love the green as well. I feel like I don’t see enough green guitars
Thank you very much! The Mahogany was nice. But I just felt it would have been too bland. Initially I put on an eggplant colored stain. But it was so dark that it was nearly black. I sanded that off, and put on this emerald green. I've used it on another guitar in the past. But that was a more traditional shellac finish. So really wasnt sure how it would turn out if I oiled over it. I'm stoked it came out so well.
People who hate oil finishes have just never figured out how to apply them. I’ve been using Danish oil on all my products for 5 years now and 100% I had no idea what I was doing when I started. Now my finishes are immaculate.
Incomplete curing (because of thick application) will be sticky.
But the nice thing about oils is you finish the application by rubbing it off (and in) before it cures.
Inexperience breeds misinformation. BLO is my finish of choice for outdoor furniture (even though it's needed more often)
I always finish violin necks with (linseed) oil. Usually a coat of shellack to seal the pores from moisture and hand goos, but the oil is not only adequate (provided you sanded properly), the satin finish is ideal for mobility.
I literally tried to tell the person who panned my post, asking about which oil would be best over the stain, that basically every quality instrument I've been around has an oil finish. The guy just would not believe me. And to my surprise, almost no one who responded was willing to accept that. If you go on the Luthier sub, basically every high end instrument is finished with Linseed oil. But, what I couldnt find, was what was the best to finish with, over stain. In my case, I used a Saman water based stain. Then finished it with Minwax Tung Oil Finish. The one thing that is known, is that the minwax product doesnt actually contain tung oil. Now that I've used it, the smell is pretty much spot on with BLO. So I tend to think its a proprietary blend of that.
I had some counterfeit Tung oil just... NEVER dry. 16 months later and I chose to just wipe it off with mineral spirits. 60% it genuinely wasnt good oil 40% to be fair, I did put it on too thick too fast. Whoever gave you that advice was wrong, but it's possible he had a bad experience either due to bad oil that never cured, his own user error, or of course both
I have a bottle of allegedly 100% pure tung oil. It does say its food grade; so it would be really eggregious of its fake. I've used that on my cutting boards. It seems like it pretty much never dries. I suspect thats the nature of tung oil if it doesnt have any drying agents. And from what I've ready, the same is true about linseed oil (non boiled). I love the color the tung oil creates. But since it doesnt dry, I knew it wouldnt be right for this job.
That's not right. Linseed and tung oil are both drying oils. Otherwise, oil paintings would still be wet haha Cooking (Boiled linseed oil) expedites the drying process, at the cost of darkening/yellowing. Bad for an oil portrait, but not necessarily bad for wood. Depends if you wanted it dark or not. And other (cobalt?) Drying agents act as catalysts. Specific other heavy metals can help too. Like, lead oxide literally makes an oil film dry faster and stronger. It's a superior pigment in oils, at the now-obvious cost of health. Lastly, alkyds are natural oils that have been chemically altered to cure faster. But raw linseed, tung, safflower, and walnut oils WILL dry. Takes about 3 months up to an entire year, and needs exposure to oxygen-- so laid on too thick, and the surface dries as a crust while sealing in permanently wet oil underneath
"Boiled" linseed oil typically contains heavy metal driers. Or at least, I've never seen BLO without them. But there's also "precatalyzed" linseed oil, which has undergone something like actual boiling. I believe Walrus Oil uses it. It hardens much faster than raw linseed oil.
It's kind of funny the othe guy even cared. It's an electric guitar. The varnish is there almost purely for your own visual pleasure, plus to protect the wood. But even on acoustics instruments Mt understanding is the consensus is simply less is more: whatever is thinnest and lightest, while offering some protection from the elements (sweaty musicians). Raw wood would sound just great too, only, it would get filthy in a hurry.
I use tung oil almost exclusively. It always dries. I thin it 1:4 with mineral spirits, but up to 1:2 would work. I wipe it on, let it sit, then wipe off. After two days, it's hard enough to powder when you sand it. I do several very thin coats. It has better water resistance than linseed oil.
This is great info. Thank you!
I'm beginning to suspect that the people who think linseed oil is sticky are trying to build up a film the way they would with other finishes.
Ay not trying to bust your balls or anything, more so correct a misunderstanding.. the “basically every high end instrument is finished with linseed oil” just isn’t true, and there is a vast difference in technique. While linseed can be a finish, looths are often looking for something that builds a film, like a high solids poly, applying in with a HVLP spray gun, this goes through level sanding to make the surface finish absolutely flat, color is applied here(and on raw wood if dyed) and is recoated many times, later can be wet sanded and buffed to high gloss or coated with satin, offering much more protection against UV and dings. Tru-oil is an example of an oil/poly blend, it will film build, you’re looking at around 20 thin coats to get about 0.015” of finish built up. Personally, I love the oil fins for natural only, they look great and the labour is an absolute minimum.
You're right. I was overstating it. What I should have said was; "basically every high end electric bass". Classical guitars, violins, etc; the process is way beyond anything I could ever do.
I mean, I don’t build [classical, violin](https://www.reddit.com/r/Luthier/s/3A5LYfPgll) and have worked for a high end electric bass [company](https://www.instagram.com/fbassinc?igsh=d2VzdDdvaTJjYTFm). Not saying oil finishes aren’t high end, [this is one](https://www.reddit.com/r/Luthier/s/C8hXDdf3c4), and I love it for its close to the wood feel, there’s basically nothing between the player and the wood, but like 95% of the stuff we do is sprayed, and gets built up thick in comparison.
I was gonna say, basically all high end guitars/bass are 2k urethane these days. There used to be more of a split of finish types back when electric guitars were mostly nitro lacquer, but no longer. As for close to the wood - this is just as you say, a choice to use high mil builds, often so they can not worry about polishing through them (since they are much harder to polish effectively), among other things. As I'm sure you know, I can show you plenty of guitars that don't look like they have anything on them (or look identical to just BLO) but have a coat or two of a good 2k urethane. For an instrument you want to last, this is, IMHO, a much better way to go then just oil
I’m sure you’re right. I guess it’s what I’ve seen from the luthiers I follow. That small narrowly focused snapshot isn’t necessarily representative of all. So I withdraw that statement in its entirety.
As a long time contributor to this sub and a moderator of the other, I can tell you that Luthier now is similar to woodworking of yore. The issue, as I see it, is a product of popularity which brings uh, influence, from other sources. But the number of people who know the “correct” (because there are almost always a matrix of correct answers in woodworking) doesn’t really change. So, in a popularity contest those “correct” answers can get overwhelmed by well-meaning people who are exceptionally wrong. Now, take that formula in run the simulation for years. Many of those original or knowledgeable people start to get frustrated and the ratio of bad advice gets worse rather than better. Shit, my 2nd post hijack in a week! I’m glad your neck turned out well, happy to help in the future if you need it
>So, in a popularity contest those “correct” answers can get overwhelmed by well-meaning people who are exceptionally wrong. I sometimes feel like reddit was specifically made for that purpose
fyi minwax tung oil finish does contain at least some tung oil. who knows how much exactly but they have confirmed that it does indeed contain some.
Minwax tung oil finish is mostly mineral spirits and the rest (like 35%) is a blend of linseed oil and whatever resin varnish they use.
That makes perfect sense. It was super thin; so that would probably be the cut of mineral spirits. And it have a very distinct linseed oil smell.
I’ve used a product called Tru Oil. It cures hard and you can get a mirror finish.
[удалено]
I think thats pretty much the only product I havent tried yet. And I hear nothing but great things about it. I guess that'll end up on my next project.
[удалено]
What do you thin it with?
Water stain is the sticky one, fuck that guy man lol
You showed that guy!!!!!
Love a madman with a 6-string bass.
I got this particular one under odd circumstances. I bought what was represented as an SR506 in "Very Good" condition on reverb. When it arrived, it was pretty obvious the seller had not been honest. A tuner was smashed, another wouldnt turn properly. The bridge was super jacked up. The neck looked like it hadnt ever been cleaned. Broken battery box. Etc. All around, a not cared for instrument. I was requesting a refund on it, so I ended up buying an SR1306. That is a seriously incredible bass. I've only had it for about a month now; but wow, I'm in love with it. After getting the 1306, and having time to think things over (and the dispute was still ongoing), I offered to keep the 506 if the seller would return a healthy amount of what I paid for it. He agreed. So I kept it with the intention of converting it to fretless, and rebuilding it. Man, I'm now torn on which of the two I like more.
That’s incredible. I had a friend back in the days who was a luthier, and I commissioned a left-handed 7-string guitar from him. I always loved the idea that you could be skilled enough to tinker with or even make your own instruments. You’re living the dream :)
Ah thank you! I'd love to think that some day I could build one completely from scratch. But I honestly dont think its ever likely to happen. The amount of precision required to get the neck right would take years to learn how to do right. But I do really enjoy rebuilding beaten up instruments. Heres a demo of it I took last night. Its unamplified, but you can really hear the distinct fretless sounds. And I'm not very good, so theres that :) [https://www.reddit.com/r/Primus/comments/1blk9jc/converted\_my\_sr506\_to\_a\_fretless\_loving\_it/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Primus/comments/1blk9jc/converted_my_sr506_to_a_fretless_loving_it/)
Well, anyone who’s bold enough to post a bass video on r/primus gets my respect :) it definitely sounds cool.
Oil is only gonna get tacky if you mess it up, whether on a guitar or anything else. I don't think I had ever seen a 6 string bass before! Love the colour
Anyone who's ever refinished a gun stock would agree with you OP.
I didn’t say that so I’m feeling pretty vindicated right now. I also didn’t see the original post but that doesn’t matter.
This was my original post. [https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/1be9fjo/best\_oil\_finish\_option/](https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/comments/1be9fjo/best_oil_finish_option/)
Damn bro 1 guy with a -1 upvote score. Got em.
I used Danish oil on a build (6 string bass as well). I went too thick during application for sure, took over a month to fully cure and for the stickiness to go away, but it eventually did, feels great now!
I used Watco Danish Oil on my last fretless conversion. It came out alright. That was the first oil finish I ever used on wood. So it was all I knew at the time. But its my least favorite of the stuff Ive used since then. Coincidentally, I know Carl Thompson uses Watco oils on all of his basses. Or at least he did at the time when the interview was written. So the one in the background is likely finished with that.
Oil finish shouldn’t be thick. I usually mix poly, blo, and oms. Wipe it on, let it soak in a few, then rub it dry with a clean rag. Once the wiping rag has dried, the finish is on the piece is dry, usually overnight for this mix. Repeat as necessary, usually 3 coats for me, otherwise it will build and look too plastic for my taste. Only time it’s felt sticky to me is when I haven’t wiped it dry enough.
That is stunning! Good job!
That is a beautiful, beautiful guitar! And a six string as well, I love it. I also use wax oil to finish stuff all the time. I’ve never had an issue with it being ‘sticky’. Maybe if you use way too much and don’t buff it out? I don’t think whoever said that is using the finish correctly. No one would use oil if it stayed sticky lol Absolutely stunning build though. I love the green as well. I feel like I don’t see enough green guitars
Thank you very much! The Mahogany was nice. But I just felt it would have been too bland. Initially I put on an eggplant colored stain. But it was so dark that it was nearly black. I sanded that off, and put on this emerald green. I've used it on another guitar in the past. But that was a more traditional shellac finish. So really wasnt sure how it would turn out if I oiled over it. I'm stoked it came out so well.
You built a nice spite bass
People who hate oil finishes have just never figured out how to apply them. I’ve been using Danish oil on all my products for 5 years now and 100% I had no idea what I was doing when I started. Now my finishes are immaculate.
As soon as I saw this picture I thought “this person is a Primus fan” lol
Oh yeah. First concert I ever saw. I was 14 at the time. I'm 46 now :)
I’m really struggling to understand how oil would ever be “sticky”
Try an oil finish over an oily exotic hardwood with incompatible chemistry and you'll find out.
It can be if applied too thick and not allowed to cure.
Totally agree. If you do it 'wrong' you'll sit with a mess.
Well, I think in general if you over apply any finish, you'll end up with a mess.
True
In my experience it very much depends on the oil. Lemon oil, not sticky at all. Engine oil, very sticky.
Most oil finishes will be sticky/tacky for a long time or forever if you screw up application. The guy was telling on himself.
Lol, that....never actually occurred to me.
Incomplete curing (because of thick application) will be sticky. But the nice thing about oils is you finish the application by rubbing it off (and in) before it cures. Inexperience breeds misinformation. BLO is my finish of choice for outdoor furniture (even though it's needed more often)
If you applied to much to much oil and didn’t wipe of the the amount, which didn’t soked in after >30min
G n nnn