Looking For Advice From The Luthiers/Woodworkers Amongst Us

[lbpesq]

So I've been teaching myself guitar building, bolt-on Strat, Tele, and Fender Bass types, and lately winding my own pickups.   


I source wood and have a guy back east that builds bodies for me.  I get them sanded to 220 and I do the rest.  I've been using fairly exotic tops, Quilt and Flame Maple, Cottonwood Burl, Amboyna Burl, etc., mostly with Black Korina/Limba backs. 


I've been doing a hand-rubbed Tung Oil finish on the bare wood.  My most recent guitar has a Buckeye Burl top.  Amazing patterns - as all of us familiar with Alembics know how Buckeye Burl can look.   What dumbfounds me is how much and at what speed this top is sucking up oil.  I assume at some point it will saturate and allow enough to remain on top long enough to create a hard protective surface - usually after 15-20 coats.  I just can't believe it has absorbed as much oil as it has without seeming to slow down!


Is this typical of Buckeye Burl?  Can I hurt it by loading it up with too much Tung Oil?  Should I just keep appying until it gets saturated?  Any help appreciated!


Bill, tgo

[edwardofhuncote]

How are you applying the finish, Bill? 

'Hand-rubbed' meaning cheesecloth or a rag is a pretty thin coat, so I wouldn't worry too much about loading it up that way. I use a foam brush, well wrung out, to apply the first few coats. After some build-up and curing happens, (you can hasten this with a lamp and fan) I will buff with 0000 steel wool, then apply a couple hand-rubbed coats with a roll of cheesecloth. Circular motions. This kinda' softens those coats underneath, so don't get too forceful. No personal experience with buckeye, but walnut burl definitely soaks for a while.

I love a tung oil finish too. Me and Dad have used it on our banjos for years for a more rustic, natural feel. Wood is funny... some of it will soak that stuff like a sponge, some of it a couple coats is plenty.

Here's a 'pony-scale' five string conversion we did on a Gibson TB-2... I finished the neck and resonator in tung oil. There is a thin coat of alcohol-based tint to match that mysterious dark purple varnish Gibson used back then! The wood used here was maple, but it still took a good dozen coats to get the look I wanted.

[keith_h]

I don't think Buckeye Burl and other fungal woods are good candidates for a lot of oil finishes. Due to their punky nature they are frequently stabilized with unwaxed shellac or cyanoacrylate glue before using varnishes or urethane based finishes.  For an oil finish I would look at a polymerized oil like Watco over traditional tongue oil as it will seal the grain hardening it and giving it some structure. It alsowon't get sticky as tongue oil tends to when you have many coats. 

[lbpesq]

Thanks, guys.  Unfortunately, while I can get legal weed, I can't get legal polymerized Tung Oil in California!  As for the Watco, I assume you mean the Danish Oil as Watco doesn't seem to make polymerized Tung Oil?  The problem there is that Danish Oil often has Linseed Oil in it.  I am HIGHLY allergic to Linseed Oil.  We're talking anaphylactic shock.  I may need to let the Buckeye Burl body dry out for a couple of weeks and then think about a rub-on poly finish.

Bill, tgo

[cozmik_cowboy]

I'll be coming to Sacramento to meet my granddaughters in late March; if you can wait that long I can smuggle some polymerized oil in...........

Peter

[HyAlembicK]

I use poly rub on and it works and looks great, Bill!

[lbpesq]

Peter, thanks for an all too brief wiff of my college days! 

hehehehe 

But, if you are serious, and I don't find some in Nevada the next time I go to Lake Tahoe for a case, I'll take you up on your most generous offer.  Either way, it would be great to hook up for a mini Alembic Gathering, if we can, while you are on the left coast.

Bill, tgo

[mica]

Buckeye Burl is so soft, especially if it has the fungal stain, I can't imagine using an oil finish on it. Have you tried mounting your electronics? If the wood isn't stabilized in some way, you may crush the fibers of the wood with the nut. How is your piece when you apply a fingernail pressure to it?

I have seen the photographic evidence of Bill's linseed oil allergy - poor guy!