Wet sanding Wudtone - has anyone done it?

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I'm putting Wudtone on an alder body at the moment, but I'm getting convinced that the finish is going to be far from flat when it's all done. It's the Olympic Girl colour, and I've been following the 'stippling' technique that everyone seems to recommend for the solid colours, but the oil just doesn't self level enough as far as I'm concerned. I've put just over a bottle (out of the 2) on, and although it looks white, it's patchy and obviously still has some way to go before being more solid. I'm not after a completely solid white finish, but I'm starting to lose hope a little and am beginning to fear having to do a full removal at the end. It's taking bloody ages too which isn't helping.

If I can get an even colour, I was thinking that a very light wet sand might do the trick, but I'm worried that that will just remove the white finish as it's very thin. Has anyone wet sanded Wudtone at all to flatten a finish?
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Comments

  • Okay, it *will* slowly level over a long period of time. However, it never will be "level" in the traditional sense of a guitar finish. 

    It is quite soft though, and I'd be hesitant to sand it heavily. 

    I'm looking at a dappled finish on a black jazzmaster, turquoise tele and red strat (that's pine, the others are swamp ash) and the pine has more visible dappling. The swamp ash you couldn't tell, it's mostly grain of the wood. 

    If you try it, try it somewhere invisible eg inside the neck pocket. If you've not finished the neck pocket (I don't) then do it and give it a good 5 dappled coats before trying it. 

    If you do this, try it with micromesh sandpaper. It's extremely fine grit. 

    After applying dappled coats (7-10 iirc) I apply another number of thin, rubbed on coats. This helps a bit. 
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  • victorludorumvictorludorum Frets: 996
    I've been doing thin coats in between too, but it's not doing much. i guess it's just not what i was expecting from an oil finish.
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  • victorludorumvictorludorum Frets: 996
    The problem seems to be that when you apply thin coats in the traditional, oil finish way, it doesn't seem to add much colour; certainly not to the extent that the photos on the site reflect.
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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1756
    Hi you are only 50% of the way there so keep on going it builds a lot better in the later coats once it is attaching to itself so to speak. and it levels more as you go on but you wont get a total gloss poly or nitro style finish.

    I played around a good bit with it when it first came out and you can get a pretty good finish. 

    If you want to get a greater shine I have used car microabrasive paste and meguires to buff it further. 

    All that said its an oil and slow drying so you need to put it away for at least a month before trying to buff it down. not sure I would go down the micro abrasion route as reliced one finish very easily with a light rub with oooo wire wool to get  the effect of a fender refinish coming through a red top coat. 

    I would also spot test before to make sure its dry enough. 

    HTH


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  • guitarcookie1guitarcookie1 Frets: 461
    Which bottle have you been applying?

    Not tried Olympic girl but the lady teal I used last came with a white base coat & a separate colour pigment; the base coat was for diluting the teal dye. 

    I've just used a bit of leftover base coat on a piece of ash to see if it could be used as a full finish and it hardly left any colour on the wood at all. 

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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16541
    I thought Andy always stated it was most definitely not an oil finish?
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  • victorludorumvictorludorum Frets: 996
    Which bottle have you been applying?

    Not tried Olympic girl but the lady teal I used last came with a white base coat & a separate colour pigment; the base coat was for diluting the teal dye. 

    I've just used a bit of leftover base coat on a piece of ash to see if it could be used as a full finish and it hardly left any colour on the wood at all. 

    It's 2 bottles of the white base coat.

    When I began, I put about 3 thin coats on and they made no impact at all. It was only when I started dabbing it one that it added any colour, and with that you get the orange peel finish.
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27342

    I put about 3 thin coats on and they made no impact at all. 
    That was my experience with one of the red finishes.  Thin all-over coats are no use at all, and just produced an anaemic finish.

    I found that it worked best by applying it in "patches" rather than "coats" by working on a reasonably small area and really rubbing the colour well into the wood before moving on to the next patch of the body.

    Given all its other issues, I've moved on to the Crimson products now, and find them much easier to use and more reliable in terms of the finish.
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • guitarcookie1guitarcookie1 Frets: 461
    Which bottle have you been applying?

    Not tried Olympic girl but the lady teal I used last came with a white base coat & a separate colour pigment; the base coat was for diluting the teal dye. 

    I've just used a bit of leftover base coat on a piece of ash to see if it could be used as a full finish and it hardly left any colour on the wood at all. 

    It's 2 bottles of the white base coat.

    When I began, I put about 3 thin coats on and they made no impact at all. It was only when I started dabbing it one that it added any colour, and with that you get the orange peel finish.
    In which case it's just time & patience to work through the two bottles. 

    I've had good results with teal & orange, and to a certain extent dark tease (although that wasn't the colour I was after). 

    Found that really rubbing it in and going over it with wire wool before the next coat gives a good, even finish with no orange peel. 

    I do think that the bottles aren't big enough and you probably need two sets to get a really deep, solid finish. 
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  • victorludorumvictorludorum Frets: 996
    I'm going to finish the 2 bottles and see how it ends up. I've been rubbing it down between coats, but the 0000 wool doesn't really do much unless you press it hard, in which case it just removes the stuff.

    It's a shame as the neck kit has been super easy and looks great. The body on the other hand has been far more difficult than i was expecting.
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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1756
    edited May 2017
    As far as I am aware its based on this. 
    http://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/product/osmo-polyx-oil?gclid=Cj0KEQjwi7vIBRDpo9W8y7Ct6ZcBEiQA1CwV2F_0-Fv3u6ICZuNXi7S-Nyd4pWbbOYcxNwb60geROs4aAg8q8P8HAQ

    Some of it may have an added oil based varnish,  I speculate on that bit. Think I recanted the story a while back where I knew the smell of it but could not place it. 

    You can simply colour it up with any type of oil based pigments I have used anything from oil based dyes to 
    This was straight forward mix up of Windsor and Newton oil pigment.




    Also this was a partial experiment on a Fender type colour with an aged top coat to see how strong to make the age tint. 



    So definitely oil base :-) In fact I seem to remember its 7 oils polymerised.
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 27569
    WezV said:
    I thought Andy always stated it was most definitely not an oil finish?
    I think it's fair to say that he was full of shit.
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1756
    You can also buy a load of Osmo for 26 quid and a few tubes of cheap oil paint pigments or dyes. Suppose it depends on how many you are going to do but its was fun to play around and you can also build the coats a lot deeper if you need to and not worry that you are going to run out if the wood sucks a bit more or you want to hide the grain more etc etc. 

    I did a good few bodies from a 750ml  for friends when I was playing with it and its pretty easy to mix any colour you fancy. 


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  • Do *many* dappled coats first, then do *many* rubbed coats - not one of each alternative. 

    I want to try a new finish next time but it'll be a while before I do another. I may try a milk paint, or the crimson finishes. The wudtone kits are good I think (certainly worked every time for me) but they're limited and I did need practice to get best results. 

    My favourite wudtone kits were the rub in translucent colours. They were stunning. The solid ones do work, or at least, acceptable for me. I believe I could get better results from other methods. 
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  • underdogunderdog Frets: 8334
    Sporky said:
    WezV said:
    I thought Andy always stated it was most definitely not an oil finish?
    I think it's fair to say that he was full of shit.

    Oh god yes, he done my head in with every post.
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  • CasperCasterCasperCaster Frets: 760
    @Jez6345789 I recall the previous thread where you mentioned Osmopolyx (a Wudtone black magic woman thread I think) - do you know what type of oil based varnish would be suitable to mix with the Osmopolyx? I am curious as I might do a bit of experimenting, and might try the Osmopolyx tints as well.
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