Few refinishing questions

[warlok]

Getting closer to finished completely stripping the sealer off and need some advice. First, the ends of the grain on the mahogany wings seem to get packed with sanding dust as the sealer comes off. Should I wipe/clean with naptha? Any tips on getting it cleaned up before Tru-oil? Also, doing Tru-oil on the whole guitar. Planning on either a decal or a stencil and paint for the logo on the headstock. Not putting any clear on to bury it and don't care that I'll be able to feel it. But should I do the finish and let completely dry before I apply the logo? Or apply logo then apply the Tru-oil?

[sully]

Do you have an air compressor? If so, use it to blow the dust out of the pores. If not, at least shop vac it. Once you've got the dust out, then hit it with some Naptha to get it all clean.

As far as the headstock goes, I wouldn't recommend paint over oil; however, the oil may have some adverse reaction to the paint. I'd try that on scrap or something else first. If you do a decal (not waterslide, right?), I guess I'd oil it first.

Sully

[DonP]

Does mahogany need grain filler when using tru-oil?

[warlok]

Yep, I do have a compressor and it's pressurizing right now. I'll give that a shot. It's all ready for final sanding, naptha, and then Tru-oil.. (Yes, BTW - vinyl decal, not waterslide..) Woohoo!!
DonP, From what I understand, if you fill the grain, you'll have a flat glossy finish. I decided not to do any grain filling. I want to see the grain in the finish. I like the "texture" of the grain. Off to get it ready.

[warlok]

Taping off the fretboard, but should I tape off the binding or leave it open? Will the oil finish stick to the binding at all?

[sully]

The oil will harden over anything you put it on; if you leave it on the binding, it'll give it a nice tint. You're also going to buff the finish back so that it's satin, right?

[warlok]

Yes. Satin and really thin so the grain texture is still visible. I'm guessing about 3 coats or so. 1st one is on now, super thin and OMG it looks kickass. I'll get pics up after the last coat.

Sully, I'm waiting about 2 hours between coats and going to hit with 0000 steel wool before and after the 3rd coat, then again if I need another coat. How long does it take to fully cure? Like assemble and play type of cure..

[sully]

Offhand, I don't really recall; I usually put on a bunch of coats a few hours apart, then buff it all back the next day.

[warlok]

Put one last coat on the end grain this morning, holy shit that stuff soaks it up if you don't grain fill. Just buffed it all with steel wool and looks exactly how I wanted. Seems hard already.. Making a project thread in other manufacturers with pics. Thanks for the help!!