Experience with "Tried & True" finishes?

[Jason Rodgers]

For those who are fans of an oil finish, like Tru-Oil, does anyone have experience with "Tried & True" brand Danish Oil, Varnish Oil, or Original Wood Finish?

http://www.triedandtruewoodfinish.com/products/

I like the low-toxicity (well, lowER than some) of this product, and if it gives a result similar to a "tung oil" finish, then I'll pick up a can.

Thanks!

[Jim Bonnell]

I haven't tried that product, but I recently used Osmo an oil product that David King suggested. I applied it to a body and it gave it a very nice satin smooth finish that feels great. Just a thought. A little pricey but easy to use and doesn't require many coats.

[Todd Stock]

True Oil is a wiping varnish (think oil plus a resin), as are most so-called oil finishes like Watco Tried and True Original and Danish Oil are both true oil finishes (no resins) - just polymerized linseed oil (e.g., cooked to cause drying and conversion when exposed to oxygen). T&T Varnish Oil, which is yet another wiping varnish, is a resin and polymerized linseed oil mix. Like other wiping varnishes, there is slow film build due to lower solids, so suitable for home builders that don't have time constraints, but want a film. I've used Original on utility furniture in the shop, and other than the slow cure, it's pretty much like other polymerized linseed, but not something I;d use on an instrument. Have not used their varnish oil, but should be similar to other wiping varnishes, except the dryers in some of those products are excluded from Tried and True...think slower drying.

You can mix up a pretty decent wiping varnish with pure boiled linseed oil (make sure it's boiled, and not raw treated with metal hardeners), mineral spirits or naphtha, and a good phenolic or tung-based varnish in 1/3-1/3-1/3 ratio. If using something like Epiphanes spar, increase the varnish to 1/2 and cut the oil to 1/6. I used a similar mix for cabin interiors, but used a satin Epiphanes product in 1/3-1/3-1/3. Use something like an inert gas (Bloxygen) to displace air with any drying oil or varnish product once opened.

Probably cheaper to by Tru-Oil or Tried and True Varnish Oil by the quart if you can tolerate the gloss as the film builds.

[Jason Rodgers]

Ok, so of those three Tried & True products, the Varnish is the one I'd want for instrument applications. Next time I'm in Woodcraft I'll pick up a quart and test on some boards. I'm thinking of trying wax over the oil, too.

Folks are still going with a washcoat of shellac first, right?

[Jason Rodgers]

How 'bout that: StewMac is selling the T&T Original. http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and_Su ... source=EPA