I've been a Professional Restoration, Finishing & Painting Contractor since 1980, the Summer I Graduated High School. I used to help my Dad & Grandad from 12 years old onwards and I've used just about every kind of Coating there is. I'd like to make a few suggestions to help you. First use VM&P Napthia (Varnish Makers & Painters) instead of Mineral Spirits. (Paint Thinner) Napthia is also known as Lighter Fluid such as Ronsonol or Zippo, Coleman Camping Fuel or White Gas (not Gasoline) but VM&P is the best because it's a little cleaner/higher grade. VM&P Napthia will mix in better, your Tru-Oil will set (tack) up quicker, dry faster and cure out a little harder plus being a much higher grade Solvent than Mineral Spirits it will increase the shine. Always measure and stir it in (don't whip, it'll add air bubbles) whatever Solvent you use to thin the Finish you're using. This way you can easily replicate it and you'll have consistently from batch to batch. Try 3 Tablespoons of Tru-Oil & 1/2 Tablespoon of VM&P. If that's too thick add another 1/2 Tablespoon of VM&P. Keep adding VM&P 1/2 at the time until you've got the desired viscosity. Once you've got your ratios down you can replicate the excact same formula over and and your finish will be perfect and consistent. You can make larger batches by using a Shot Glass in the same ratio. If You have a some Baby Food Jars with a good Rubber Seal in their lids. You can mix up a jar full at the time if you have 2-3 Guitars to finish. Even if you don't mix a jar full you can keep your leftovers in a Baby Food Jar. Also it's really best to use your thinned Tru-Oil for your First Coat because it will Soak in and Penetrate Deeper. This will Bond & Seal your Wood better. It won't hurt to use your thinned Tru-Oil for all your Coats, you may find you like this better. The Best Sealer is Zinsser Seal-Coat. It's a 100% wax free Shellac compable under all Clear Finishes, even Hot Solvent Finishes like Lacquer and 2 part Epoxies and Alphatic Urethane. If you Seal your Wood with Zinsser Seal-Coat Your Tru-Oil, Polyurethane, Lacquer, etc. will have greater "Enamel Holdout" (higher gloss/sheen) plus all your Top Coats lay down and smooth out better. Lastly put a little Cyanoacrylate (Super) Glue on the little Cardboard/Paper Seal that comes in your Tru-Oil's Top to keep it in place and store it upside down. This will keep it Fresh longer and if it Skins or Scabs over this Will be on the bottom when you turn it right side up. Hope this Helps you. look for Jimmy Reaves (no picture) on Facebook. I'll send you my email and help you all I can. God Bless You & Your Family. Jimmy in NC....

I am new to Tru oil and look forward to trying your technique ... thank you for taking the trouble to pass on your wisdom! :)

Totally looks killer! Thanks for sharing!

I tried this on my final coats on my maple lap steel, and WOW! Amazing! After sanding the previous tru oil coats with 3000 grit, I tried your method and it's absolutely like glass! THANK YOU PAL!

Great advice. I'll try this for finishing my next guitar build.

Thank you Ven.

Awesome! Thanks!

Jump from 2:51 to 4:18 and see the difference, nice job .True Oil is great, good trick with mineral spirits, nice gloss

Good video. I'll give it a try. I never thought of using blue shop towels. Thanks for your knowledge.

Cool trick, thanks for posting. Love to see the poly trick too.

Dude. I'm doing a muzzleloader stock with my son and this cutting trick saved me. I let the first coat dry for 2 days and it was still wet. 95 degrees outside and no humidity. I wiped all that off with mineral spirits and started cutting it with MS like you're doing. It started drying in a couple hours and even 30 minutes sometimes. I'm on about 15 coats right now and it's looking killer man! Thank you.

Your video & comments below were very very helpfull!

Wow that was great. I m going to try this...thanks

Excellent Video, thank you and you to your Viewers comments, The Guitar Community is the Best, people helping others with advice 👍 Melbourne, Australia.

Great tip! I'm just about ready to start using some Tru Oil and this will help!👍😎🎸🎶

I tried this thinning trick with tru oil today on the maple top of my BYO LP kit and a couple hours later the amount of gloss I'm getting is really incredible!!

Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for posting. I'm going to try this trick my Cigar Box Guitar necks I build.

Quick question on the tru oil beings its oil based once you get the underlying finish level you dont have to sand or scuff between coats for adhesion? Great vids and beautiful guitars btw!

Thanks for the tip! I just recently got in to turning wood pens and I've been using Tru Oil on them, appropriate since most of them have been bolt-action pens. It is a bit tricky with self-leveling since they're round, so I have to keep them on a slow motor to keep turning. I know this video's a couple of years old now, but I had a few questions regarding your technique: 1. How many heavy/thin coats did you put on before the thinned out finishing layers? 2. Did you prep the coating before the thinned Tru Oil layers with anything (steel wool, etc) 3. Before the mineral spirit top coat, how long did you leave it to cure and how many mineral spirit coats did you put? I'm definitely going to test this process out now, being I coincidentally have mineral spirits myself. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks valencio 👍🏻

I didn't believe this would work, but it did, holy sh#t it worked thanks for this trick man and all the best to you .

Great tip! Will definitely use it for my next guitar build

Good, wish I’d known about this much sooner. Just put a couple coats on a gunstock , it works great!!

DANG!!! That worked GREAT! a little long on the dry time but well worth it!

Thanks! 😎

Wow looking foreword to trying this on the bagpipes I make . Sure looks a good finish.

I really like it; that looks so nice. I'd like to be able to mix my own tru-oil with stuff from the hardware store instead of having to buy tru-oil online and then still need the mineral spirits, since MS is one of the key ingredients in the first place. So please tell me; have you came up with a recipe to make our own tru-oil? I want to finish a neck, I am also concerned about poly effect on the tone.

This is a great video. I might have to give this a try on my build.

Great tip, how long do you wait between the last coat of pure tru oil before applying the mix of mineral spirits and tru oil? Thanks!

This is an awesome video! I'm trying to finish my guitar with a nice new veneer top with tru-oil and have the rest of the body painted black. Which black paint did you use on the body? I want the top to have a natural tru-oil finish but don't want to see the grain and other imperfections on the back and sides of the guitar. I'm trying to find out which paint is compatible with tru-oil and that is also not too hard to apply in winter. I'm currently experimenting with India ink.

So after the proper build and it’s all level, and you apply a couple of thinned out coats is it necessary to buff it? If so are you just sanding it with some 3,000 grit and then a compound?

I am new to rub finishes. Can you use them on paint or only on stains? Nice video

Thanks for the tips. Would you say it’s about 50/50 thinned? Also, do you buff out the finish or this is the final layer? Thanks

Like your tip have seen it done with spirts b4 but in different way your way seems faster how many full coats b4 the mix and how long in between

I've thinned out oil based polyurethane when I used to do wood working to give a really nice smooth coat. I wonder why no one uses lacquer or even shellac for guitars. Maybe those two just don't hold up well.....especially lacquer when sweat and stuff lands on the guitar during a gig or something.

Looks awesome! I'm gonna try this out man, just a question: did you had any sanding between coats or? Cheers and thanks.

dear Venancio, thanks for your video i'm from Spain and we not have this product that you mention, it's possible to use Isopropanol? and if it's not can you says the chemical name to find in Spain? many thanks for your help. kind regards.

nice, what about buffing after? any required?

Hey mate, just researching how to use tru oil on a guitar I'm starting. Can I please check I've got this method right? So add straight tru oil and then last couple of coats you're thinning it down? Are you buffing before adding these last coats? Or not needed with this trick? Sorry for the silly question, just don't want to stuff it up! Cheers from Australia

Would this same process work on metal aluminum to enhance the dull black coating to prevent from having to repaint?

I used your "trick" and my rifle stock is smooth as a baby's butt and a mirror finish, an exhibition grade claro walnut

Hello! How this tru oil compares to tung oil. I am really after satin finish.. Rather than shinny. Thanks!

I heard coffee filters work for applying the Tru Oil to reduce any extra lint & such from coming off.

I'm about 15-20 coats into a pine combo cab and it's looking pretty glossy now. I think I'll try this trick for the final few coats. I live in AZ, so very low humidity and I put on two coats a day. Can I use a spray on shellac when it's all done? I'd like to protect the finish, as this cab will get hauled around to practice and gigs.

After all the applications do you do a buff out?

Huffing it... explains a lot

Can you use denatured alcohol or is that the same thing as mineral spirits?

Can you put wipe on poly over a TRU-OIL finish?

Looks like the guitar has got a black lacquer finish and you add true oil on top? Does that work? I thought you can use it on pure wood only

I do this for wipe on polyurethane.

Thank you for the video but that's laying flat what about like on a gun stock you can't lay it flat because it's not flat it's round and you sent it out that much will it drip

Till you can’t smell the spirits. So results vary depending on whether or not you have a cold? ;-)

Does this hold up good from scratches or accidental scrapes?

If you put Tru oil on a acoustic guitar will it effect the sound

Tru-oil is nothing more then Stand oil with Stoddard solvent (mineral spirits). What's Stand oil? Stand oil is linseed oil placed in a vacuum and heated to approximately 500°+ for an extended period of time. It's thick, more clear and dries unlike any other linseed product - it doesn't yellow with age. It’s not to be confused with any other linseed products like raw or boiled linseed oil. It's been used by artists for years and is available online or at good art supply stores, I’m an art conservator and have been using it for years - it's less expensive then Tru-oil. Unfortunately, so many people have been snowed by big companies and their "proprietary formulas."

Do they make colors or just clear

is this good for neck or fret board?

Odorless or regular mineral spirits?

Does this not leave any streaks or build up?

Is that a Painted or Stained Surface?

What did you sand it to?

Can be used this one over the paint no problem?

That is called glazing.

Will 70% isopropanol work?

Couldn't c anything in the dark .

paint the walls instead

I don't use tru oil any more i use a formula of 1/3 Naptha 1/3 polyurethane 1/3 lindseed oil dries fast gets hard

The real trick is actually finding it for sale anywhere

That mixing method is shocking. "Not very scientific" is a gross understatement. Please take a measurement. Even if just a rough one.

You should measure it because "by eye" doesn't help anyone..

You're putting oil over paint? This is utterly pointless.