Tru Oil woes...

[toomanyknots]

Well for one, I am getting tired of trying to degrease ipe to get tru oil to dry on it. Sometimes I don't have any trouble, and sometimes it just doesn't wanna work for me for nothing. I bought a board of the stuff recently that no matter what I do it seems, as soon as I wipe some tru oil on it, the tru oil turns chocolate brown with the oil from the wood. I remember Gordon and some folks saying to use shellac first and then tru oil on oily woods, would Bulls Eye Amber Shellac (the wipe on kind in a can) work? Also, I bought a 32 ounce bottle of tru oil online thinking I got a good deal, as it is a lot more for the money than buying the small bottles. But fast forward 3 months or so, and I still got a good amount of it left, but now it has these little things in it, I think from it getting old. Like when the finish dries, there are these little bits and pieces of something, I don't know. I always leave it upside down when not it use. It sucks because I think I am going to have to pitch it and get some new stuff... 

[simson]

I degreese oily woods with acetone or oven cleaner.
I have some heavy oily osage - the only chance to get sinew on is oven cleaner. I spray it over, let it sit for about 20 min and then clean all up with warm water. This works, never had since then a sinew lift off. I'm convinced it works on Ipe too

[paulsemp]

I drain mine though a cheese cloth cause of that problem.

[DavidV]

I usually spray a coat or two of lacquer to seal in the oils then apply the finish I'm going to use.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Switch to Tung oil and you wont regret it TMK. And yes, BE shellac will stick and allow the tung oil/tru oil to stick to it.

[Gordon]

If you seal the Ipe with shellac first (Bulls Eye works fine), you won't have trouble when you apply tru-oil.

[bubby]

tung oil and paste wax will give you a beautiful finish tmk

[okie64]

I used to use tru oil up till about a year ago. Made the switch to tung oil and never looked back. It dries quicker and doesnt go outta date nearly as quick as tru oil.

[PEARL DRUMS]

And a pint cost the same as a few ounces of tru oil.

[toomanyknots]

If you seal the Ipe with shellac first (Bulls Eye works fine), you won't have trouble when you apply tru-oil.

Thank you for chiming in Gordon. So just one coat of shellac will do it?

I used to use tru oil up till about a year ago. Made the switch to tung oil and never looked back. It dries quicker and doesnt go outta date nearly as quick as tru oil.

So are you Bubby and Pearl talking about tung oil finish, or pure tung oil? If the finish, do yall know what solvent they use in it, turps or naptha? I can't stand the smell of naptha, like with poly, it kills me and I won't use it.

tung oil and paste wax will give you a beautiful finish tmk

I've did the same same pure tung oil. What paste wax do you recommend? (I think I might of asked this like 5 times on here now, lol, sorry for the repetitive questions, ). I got some beeswax and carnuba, some turps, plus some flaxseed oil (not linseed with the metal driers in it, the health food store kind), and I was thinking and trying to mix up some of my own paste wax.

[toomanyknots]

I drain mine though a cheese cloth cause of that problem.

That's a good idea, didn't even think to do that.

[WhitefeatherFout]

I'm a big fan of tru-oil  and I've never had the issue of it not sticking to wood or discoloring.  Im not what you would call a meticulous person but building bows has taught me to take my time where needed and finishing is one of those things for sure.  I clean the wood just like I do a gun, using white cloths.  I use acetone fairly liberally on the cloth and scrub the wood.  I repeat until there is very little to no color residue on the cloth.  I then wipe it with denatured alcohol and let it dry.  Some say to rinse with boiling water, but I've done it both ways with the same results.  I guess I'll have to give tung oil a chance.  As for the chunks, I get em too.  Not sure, but probably the poly setting up when exposed to air. I just use the small bottles or even the spray.  A little goes a long way. Matt

[Gordon]

So just one coat of shellac will do it?

One coat will do it.

[mikekeswick]

Shellac sticks to just about anything and anything sticks to it.
Highly underused stuff if you ask me. Superb grain filler too. It's best to buy the flakes and dissolve your own in alchol.
And yes Tru-oil doesn't last forever! So it's a false economy to buy much. Also you do know you can make your own....it is just a blend of different oils mixed, named and then marketed, Tru-oil is very expensive for whet you get.
As mentioned tung oil is a good finish with much better waterproofness. Just make sure you buy pure tung oil and water the first couple of coats down 50 50 with white spirit.

[skarhand]

One other thing about Bulls Eye Shellac that is of note...I had this happen on a bow that I was making for a friend. Shellac dissolves sharpie ink. So if you write the bow name, draw weight/length etc with a sharpie and then try to wipe on shellac, it will dissolve and smear sharpie ink all over your bow.

Learn form my mistake, LOL. 

Skar