Sanded through tru oil?

[K. Mogensen]

Tried wetsanding one of my bows with some 1500 wet/dry paper. Bow was finished with around 8-10 coats of tru oil. Thought I'd be fine to sand over the writing on the riser, and next thing I know, the writing is gone. WTH? How thin is this stuff? I thought going through my finish with 1500 would be the least of my worries.

Also left a whitish haze on the riser which I guess may buff out with some wax. I wouldn't care about the writing (I could just sand around it) but I don't want to accidentaly strip the finish off the entire bow.

Help?  

[Bjorn]

My guess is the writing may have been done after a few coats were applied. Never encountered the 'whitish haze'-I'm familiar with the purple one though.
You might want to wipe on a coat or two of Tru Oil and test to see if it will get rid of that white haze, or you will have to buff it away.

[K. Mogensen]

I wrote the writing after I stripped the finish and before applying the tru oil.

When I wet the areas I've sanded, the haze does go away, so I think that'll buff out.

Was experimenting with ways to get a satin look is why I was sanding if that matters... Just didn't expect to be stripping my bow...

Pictures:

Here's an area I did with steel wool for comparison...

   

Here's areas I sanded. I know they're patchy. I stopped sandind once I realized the writing was gone.

   

   

   

   

Edit: Wiped on some gun stock wax and buffed a bit. Looks good until the wax dries completely, then the hazing comes back a bit. This is driving me nuts. The steel wooled area looks better and that has a bunch of fine scratches in it...

Thanks for the help. Pardon the ignorance.    

[ksbowman]

I always use high gloss (it's harder) and then if I want satin I make my last coat a satin finish. I use Minwax wipeon Poly though.Then no finish is removed.

[K. Mogensen]

That may be what I end up doing. Just using the tru oil and spraying spar on the last coat. This was an experimental bow before I start on my new hunting bow, and I would not want to take all the finish off my hunting bow.

[Phil Magistro]

The haze usually happens because the finish isn't completely dry or cured under the top layer. I don't  know how many coats of Tru Oil you put on but a dozen or more isn't too much. It isn't as thick as a spray finish.

My suggestion, since you have a trial and error bow, is to get a can of auto clearcoat. It's a high gloss. Sand out any of the whitened areas. Putting finish over them won't make them go away. I spray the bow with three light coats, waiting 15-20 minutes between coats. Let the bow hang for a few days where the temp is at least 70. Wet sand it with 800 paper - you can use 600 if you have some runs. Wipe it down and repeat the spraying process. You may end up using most of the spray can. Wait a few more days and wet sand with 800 followed by 1500.  If you want satin stop there. If you want high gloss wet salad with 2000 and polish with auto clearcoat swirl remover.

[copicasso]

Remove all wax before putting any new finish on. The new finish won't stick and might even fish eye. The best thing to do is sand all the old finish off till you hit raw wood and then start again. You don't want to start refinishing again just to have to strip what you just did. Hope this made sense. I am a 20 plus year painter and have done quite a few bows. Any questions feel free to ask.
Todd

[K. Mogensen]

Thanks for the info guys. Todd, funny you mention that, I almost applied a coat before I remembered I waxed it. Duh! Stripped it, and am in the process of finishing again. Back to the drawing board. Wanna try some satin spar over the tru and steel wooling again.

[RM81]

Originally posted by K. Mogensen:
Thanks for the info guys. Todd, funny you mention that, I almost applied a coat before I remembered I waxed it. Duh! Stripped it, and am in the process of finishing again. Back to the drawing board. Wanna try some satin spar over the tru and steel wooling again.

I did the same thing with an old Bear Cub.  I applied about 6 or 7 thin coats of tru oil and a few coats of Helmsmans Spar Urathane.  Used the finest steel wool I could find for the sanding between coats.  It turned out pretty decent.

[Missaukee]

I had the same thing happen every time when I have used Tru-oil. Some times a wax does it, sometimes steel wool. My conclusion is that tru oil sucks. It isn't very durable and a season of hunting will kill the finish, hand sweat, etc. It is easy to use, and if you leave the final coat (no sanding or steel wool) I believe you end up ok, if you want high gloss. A good looking satin finish seems to be a tough road with tru oil.

You could leave tru oil as grain filler and spray on a top coat of satin poly, that holds up fine.