I had some tru-oil that was over a year old. Maybe 2 years old I dunno, can'r remember when I bought it. Looked alright, smelled alright. So I stirred it up with a popsickle stick and put a coat on one of the mesquite neck knife handles that I made. 6 HOURS LATER it's still tacky. :confused:
Tru-oil normally dries in under 1/2 hour. Think this stuff is bad and what do I do now..just wait and hope it dries? :pray:
I use to use tru-oil and tung oil, sometimes due to the humid weather we are having it would take days before i could 0000 steel wool a project, now i use Howard's feed and wax ( 6 bucks a bottle from Home Depot)......with Howard's You never get the tacky feeling again :bigsmyl:
http://www.howardproducts.com/feednwax.htm
Hi Mickey.
I've had the same thing happen. In my case it eventually dried, but if I remember correctly, I sanded most of it off before putting on another coat from a new bottle. I think it was almost 2 years old at the time and had been in the garage with extreme temperature fluctuations.
I enjoyed your Cloverdale pics. I sure do miss getting together w/everyone.
Darren
I know you (of all folks) wouldn;'t apply it too thick I've used some pretty old Tru-oil before (many times) and only problem I ever had was if it "Skimmed" over on the top - even then I pulled that skin off and used the rest sometimes. Is it possible that Mesquite wood is still oily - that is an oily or resiny wood as I recall)? In any case I've found when any finish/paint doesn't dry in regular time it usually (at the best) just gets gummy. Think I would strip it somehow, if it isn't dry yet.
Tru Oil is basically Linseed oil with (I believe) alcohol in it for a drying accelerator..
I am guessing the alcohol evaporated out.. That along with the humidity etc.
Me too. I think the volitals that speed drying get lost. Also had it not dry ever on oily woods like Cocabola. New bottle if was slow drying and seal oily woods with superglue.
Hey Darren, yea we miss you and the boys too. You going to make it to Mojam this year?
Yea Bern this wa skimmed over, I busted through it and stirred it up. It sloshed when I shook it so figured it was still liquid under the skimmed part.Never thought about the drying agent evaporating. Learn something every day.
I've had liquid hide glue from a bottle that wouldn't dry if it was too old. Never had a problem with tru-oil though. I'll let it sit while I'm on the road today. If it's still tacky whenI get home, guess I'll take some acetone to it. Daggone it. It's slowing me down ha ha
BTW Bern done watching the tapes, I'll get them boxed up and shipped back to ya beginning of the week.Thanks bud!
W. Tim do you use that Howards on bows? Doesn't say anything about moisture protection. Do you really have to put it on once a month?
I do buy the Tru-oil in small bottles (I don't use as much as you, guys I'm sure) and always wipe the bejabbers out of the mouth and lid before screwing cap on real tight. AND I still wind up throwing some away sometimes (after I have to break the skin - and use it once - if I don't want to go to the store right then) just to be safe. Like you, Mickey, I don't want it slowing me down - LOL. No sweat on the tapes, buddy. I'll let you know when they get here.
The next time add a few clean nuts, screws or small pebbles to the bottle to raise the level of your liquid before resealing. This will give you a longer shelf life. It helps if you refrigerate the product as well.
Mickey, sent you an email.
Oooo - that makes sense, Matt. I know Fromby used to suggest squeezing the bottle of his Tung Oil (to do the same thing) before capping, but the little Tru-oil bottle doesn't sqeeze well at all. I'm gonna try the nut or pebble thing. Less air in bottle, less drying of product - sho nuff!
When using Tru Oil you need to store the bottle upside down so it will skim at the BOTTOM of the bottle and you will never have a skimming problem and no need to stir.
:banghead:
No Ron...that is too simple. LOL
Darren...email has not come in.
I have used a lot of Tru-Oil over the years and every now and then I would get a bad bottle and an application wouldn't dry in less than 24 hrs. The local wally world quit carrying the stuff so I have switched to spar urathane.
I hear that from a lot of folks, Eric, on the Spar Urethane but our Wally world still carries the small bottle of Tru-oil in the Gun gear area.
How about it, Mickey, - nobody likes somebody coming up with an "obvious" answer that we didn't think of, Ron!!! :D
Been refinishing Gun Stocks for a long time Bernie, Just one of the tricks of the trade. :bigsmyl: ;)
I have been waiting 30 hrs for the first coat of true oil to dry on my new dryad bow. how can I take that stuff off and spray it with spar? will I need to go over the cocobola again with CA glue?
thanks
kirk
Mickey, the only time I've had trouble with Tru-Oil staying tacky was either when the R/H was high or on certain oily woods. Usually when it is old it will skim over or be lumpy. When it gets lumpy I throw it away. If the R/H is high, give it a day or so to dry. I have even used steel wool on some that stayed tacky and added more over it with good results. Usually once you get the initial coat on the rest will dry like it normally would. Pat
This post explains why mine has been taking 24 hrs to dry on some cane arrows. It was lumpy also. Time to get new.
mine was not lumpy or thick at all.
the bow is bamboo backed yew. I was told that the cocobola would be a pain but seeing how the yew is sticky too it makes me wonder.
kirk
One remedy over oily wood would be a coating of shellac. That stuff sticks to everything and everything sticks to it. Pat
Just got home. I stuck the knife outside this morning, hoping the sun and wind would dry it out. Been another 7 hours and it's almost dry. Stopped at Wally World and a gun store on my way home. Neither had the tru-oil in stock.
This is the first time in years I have had trouble with tru-oil. Normally it's 20 -30 minutes and it's dry, I'm steel wooling and putting on another coat. Don't know why this time was different. Outside temp is 84 degrees and 33% RH which for this area is bone dry.
Shovelbuck why are you sealing cane arrows? they have a naturally protective coating on them. I never seal cane arrows.
Me2 (used to do stocks a lot), Ron, but I still didn't tumble to that trick - Duh! I do recall storing something else upside down though, but I can't remember what it was - it's an age thing - LOL
QuoteShovelbuck why are you sealing cane arrows? they have a naturally protective coating on them. I never seal cane arrows.
Now you tell me ;) I just thought it was the thing to do.
Well some guys like Aeronaut (Dennis Han)do sand off the coating and then need to seal them, (don't know if you did that?) and sealing them definitly won't hurt them, but if you don't sand off the outer shell there's no reason to add more sealing to them.
Kirk, I used tru oil over my Yew Dryad blank and it dried quickly and looks awesome. It's not the wood....Terry
do you know how I can get this stuff off?
how do you like your bow?
so far I am not all that pleased with mine.
kirk
Ferret, I do sand them, then seal.
Kirk, I have been making selfbows for about 9 years and have made 4 Dryad blanks. To date, my Yew/Tonkin Dryad bow(blank) is the absolute most beautiful-best shooter selfbow that I've laid my hands on. I did finish mine with Tru oil.
What is it that you're not pleased with? Hope we can help you out, cause I am just overjoyed with mine....Just wish that I were a better archer!!!...Terry
ahhh gotcha :thumbsup:
I am waiting for some arrows to be finished before I make my final judgement, but thus far I wish I had just spent the money on an osage stave. the proportions in the handle is my biggest issue. not wanting to hog away a bunch of material to reduce the diameter, the position of the rest is in a thicker spot than I would like. I was told that 2" above center in the handle is the best location for the rest, by doing that I now need to reduce the diameter of the handle.
I normally do not follow the rules, but this time I did and I wish I didn't.
I have horizontal stress lines in both limbs and a piece of the bamboo backing was borken off(not on an edge but in the middle of the limb).
I know the first thought to come up is that I stressed the limbs too much too quick, but I have built a few osage selfbows from staves and can say with all confidence that I excersised the limbs at least 25 times before fixing the long string on the tree to check tiller with the walkie talkie.
at this point I do not hear any cracking or any noise in the limbs and I sinewed the bamboo spot.only time will tell.
kirk
Kirk, I suggest you just let it sit until Mike and Jason get home from Comptons and get their advice.
I use a ton of true oil during the year so a 2yr old bottle would be one that is lost lol. Anyway I always store the bottle upside down too. Here in GA the humidity can be a pain with drying time so I just use a drying box with a little fan inside to speed up the process, I just keep it a bit warmer than the outside temp. Been doing that with gun stocks for a long time and it worked great on the few self bows that I have built.
QuoteOriginally posted by the Ferret:
W. Tim do you use that Howards on bows? Doesn't say anything about moisture protection. Do you really have to put it on once a month?
Ferret, i use Howards on my knives handles, bows and all of my tool handles ( small camp axes,hawks etc.) it's a great product and priced right too...and home depot has Howards feed and wax
Hey Mikey here's a little trick I do with all my hand applied oil based finishes and although I won't use true oil as a bow finish it does have other uses anyway add a little japan dryer to a small amount of oil in a container adjusting the amount to the humidity you have to play with the amounts but I tend to use a lot more than what the directions say for me it cuts the drying time to half or even a quarter of the time in warm conditions
Pardon my ignorance but what is Japan dryer? Never heard of it.
Its just a drying agent for oil based paints and varnishes. Just a drop will do ya. You can find it in any hardware that has stains and finishes.
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=3995&familyName=Japan+Dryer
LOL, All the Tru-Oil I buy must be old. It never dries in 30 minutes for me.