What oil to use on a Natural finish guitar

psyx

Hey guys!!

So ive been looking around on the net to try to figure out what oil is best for use on my RGA32 MOL...

Linseed oil looks like its commonly used and some guys use normal lemon oil and others insist that those are bad options and that you should use Tung oil.
Most threads on other fora just turn out to be a fight about what finish is the best and the topic dies off... ?

AlanRatcliffe

There's a lot of misinformation around about oils. Be very wary of the info available around the net, half of it is wrong...

In short, there are two types of oils: drying (tung, boiled linseed oil, various "gunstock" oils) and non-drying (cold/pressed linseed, lemon, mineral, teak, walnut, et. al.). Non-drying oils are commonly used for treatment of raw woods like rosewood to supplement and replace the natural oils. However, you actually want drying oils for finishing, as they dry (duh!) and form a film.

I like tung oil, because it is quite dark in colour and really brings out the figure in figured woods like maple, koa and walnut. It's easy to touch up without the repair being obvious. Properly applied it sinks in to the very top layer of wood and then hardens. It is relatively soft though, so is not good for building up a thick film on the surface of the wood or creating a gloss finish.

Boiled linseed and gunstock oils (most of which are linseed based anyway) are almost always chemically polymerised. They don't sink into the wood much, but they harden enough to create a film, so you can apply more coats and build up a semi-gloss finish.

My favourite way to do a natural clear finish is a coat of tung to bring out the depth of the wood, a coat of shellac to seal it and 3-6 coats of nitro lacquer for gloss and protection.

PeteM

I have never seen nor heard mention of Woodoc Deep Penetrating Furniture Wax. I use it on all my furniture and other wooden pieces in preference to the silicone polishes but I've never used it on my instruments. Can it be used safely on guitars, and if so, are there any benefits?

AlanRatcliffe

Wax is fine for polishing a finish - especially your more organic ones like French polish, but it doesn't really offer enough protection to be used as a guitar finish.

psyx

Thanks Alan! Thats better info than I could find anywhere else! The guitar in question is a Mohogany oil finish... So unpolymerised tung oil is the ideal for now? I guess its available at most good music stores

AlanRatcliffe

Good hardware stores'll have it. ? I just redid our chopping boards and wooden bowls with tung today.

psyx

So Tung oil was quite hard to come by... Some hardware stores had heard of it before, but most had no idea what I was talking about...

So I opted for some Danish oil. I just applied the first coat and it really brings out the grain of the wood... Will post some pix when I'm done! ?

Chocklit_Thunda

Yeah, I was unable to post when you started this thread but I was gonna suggest Danish oil.
Really good stuff. It has a built in varnish that forms a "hard" finish
And subsequent coats blend into the last. Easy to fix scratches and it can buff into a semi gloss. I use it on necks

Psean

Chocklit_Thunda wrote: ... Danish oil.
Really good stuff. It has a built in varnish that forms a "hard" finish

Cool to hear you've had a good experience. I'd heard the opposite about Danish. Looking for something that leaves a relatively durable, hardwearing finish, or is at least easy to fix up.
Thanks

Psean

Alan, do you know which would leave a harder finish; Danish or Tung?
Thanks

Chocklit_Thunda

Psean wrote: Alan, do you know which would leave a harder finish; Danish or Tung?
Thanks

I do believe its Tung oil but Danish does a good enough job.
I mean, I've got a pinecaster finished in nothing but shellac and that does a good enough job of protecting the body. No major dings and dents and any scratched can be fixed with a rag and some more shellac. Same thing with Danish. It's hard enough that it protects the wood but soft enough that it doesn't chip or crack like a poly or dry nitro finish does.

AlanRatcliffe

Depends on the brand of "Danish" - it's quite a generic catch-all for all kinds of blends of (usually) polymerized oils. Most are harder than tung, but I've seen one or two that were no better than cold linseed. In short, if it works it's good.

The only problem I've seen with Danish applications is where the first coats aren't thinned enough to penetrate the wood at all and it just sits on top, doing little for the looks of the wood.

Psean

Thanks guys