At that point you really just need to sand it off and start over. Tru-oil can be problematic if you leave too much on the work, since it'll take a really, really long time to fully cure in a thicker coat like that. If you find that you're leaving a lot of oil on the work, you do definitely need to wipe it back off before it starts to set. Not really 'rubbing' in the sense that you'd do a rubbed finish (like a french polish) but more aggressive than just a quick wipe. I tend to apply with a foam pad that has a cotton rag wrapped around it, and by loading just enough oil on the pad I find I can get a good even coat by sort of aggressively wiping. I don't want to speak for mikeyb2, but there are a lot of ways to do it, to be honest. So you'll probably hit a good satin finish somewhere between 5 and 10 coats. But mahogany doesn't tend to do that, and the aqua coat will help. On some woods you can get uneven absorption of the first few coats due to differences in grain, so you're forced to do more coats just to get even coverage. I find necks feel best at a satin finish. Usually those people have a very heavy hand when it comes to sanding (and/or they like a thicker film versus a thin finish with a 'natural wood' feel). I've had people show me instruments they finished with tru oil that they had to put 20 or more coats on to get things to build out evenly. Tru oil's one downside (to me, at least) is that it builds thickness slowly. Tru oil doesn't need sanding in between coats to help it adhere like some finishes do, you just to get rid of imperfections. You really want to sand just enough to remove any dust bumps or other imperfections, you barely need to touch it otherwise. Sanding every coat will make for slow going since you'll be removing most of the material you just put down.

But tru oil is so hard to mess up you can just have at it on the real thing you want to finish, and deal with any issues if or when they come up.įor a neck I would wipe on light coats, sand every two or three with high grit wet dry paper or mesh (800 or so) and stop when it looks good to you. For most finishes, I think it makes sense for people new to them to work on scrap pieces first to get the technique down. And there's enough solids in it that once you have a consistent film, you can knock down or buff up to whatever sheen you want - although it tends to naturally get glossier with more coats. It's also easy to touch up or fix if you end up with a bad spot. And it's easy to go forwards (add more coats) towards a thicker glossier film, or go backwards (sand some off then topcoat to hide the sanding scratches) towards a thinner more satin film. You'll probably get a range of responses because there are lots of ways to do it.

Tru oil cure time