Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on July 27, 2014 at 4:07am

I personally stay away from polyurethane, since I don't like the feel of it.

I use either tung oil or TruOil. You can put enough coats on it to make the wood shine, or you can buff it with 0000 steel wool for a dull or satin finish.

Try it on some scrap pieces first.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on July 27, 2014 at 4:31am

Thanks Dan - been watching a lot of videos and reading of other threads this morning, wondering if that is the way to go. I wish I'd been involved here before buying stuff, I just read an article or two, watched a video or two and dove in. Already have a bin of now scrap necks and boxes where my lack of knowledge/skill were clearly evident LOL

Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on July 27, 2014 at 5:02am

As far as humidity goes we have it in Missouri too. If your thirsty just take a deep breath. Can't tell if it's raining or just humid. :)

Personally I'd stay away from Minwax all together. There's better. If you like the feel of raw wood then Dan Sleep's true oils is a great way to go. I played in a band years ago with a guy who loved the feel of real wood. He would strip these expensive Gibson necks done to bare wood. Never asked him what he used to keep the from warping.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on July 27, 2014 at 5:57am

I'm a Midwest boy so I hear ya... :)

Thanks for the comment -  I knew a Strat player who stripped his necks as well.

Anyway, Home Depot didn't have squat for selection so I am heading up to Lowes to get some tung oil or TruOil since it appears they have Krylon as well which seems to be a common recommendation for protecting the box and labels.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on July 27, 2014 at 8:29am

Thanks for the reply - I seen the conditioning pre-stain stuff - I'll have to investigate that if I decide to stain another neck. I'm going to experiment with my new scrap necks and see which (tung oil or clear spray) I like better.

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on July 27, 2014 at 8:03am

I think it's a real shame these big box stores are thinning out the better wood finishing products. Try smaller lumber yards.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on July 27, 2014 at 8:25am

Lowes is the score, broader selection of about everything - I ended up with Formby's Tung Oil and Vaspar Clear Gloss for the box.

My hope is this will get the job done - I'm going to go over the one neck with some mineral spirits as the blotchiness is driving me nuts. It wouldn't be so bad if the stain wasn't so dark. Seems closer to dark walnut than golden oak

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on July 27, 2014 at 11:19am

Go ahead and strip the neck of the bad finish. No real reason to live with it. Your guitar, your rules! Never heard of a golden oak stain turning that dark. Try a better stain.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on July 27, 2014 at 12:13pm

Believe it or not I couldn't get it out, the wood is really porous and it turned ugly grey so I just lightly wiped some stain back over it.... check the picture out... the color is so uncomplimentary to the boxes - in the 2nd photo is the other neck, it's a bit lighter - I don't know if it's the stain or if it's the wood. Suffice it to say next go around I'll use the surface prep stuff and maybe that will help it out.

Attachments:

• golden_oak.jpg, 1.6 MB
• golden_oak_2.jpg, 1.4 MB

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Permalink Reply by Mark Lindsay on July 28, 2014 at 5:37am

That's the way poplar is - that splotchy look has nothing to do with the humidity. Strictly speaking, poplar's not really a hardwood. It does, however, hold fasteners fairly well, it's very stable, grows fast, and is very cheap. What you're going through is the main reason why you don't see many finished items made from it. It's pretty haphazard in the way it absorbs stains and finishes, and that's why it can get that blotchy appearance. In that regard, it's a lot like working with pine.

You have a few options. One is to seal it with a shellac based or vinyl based sanding sealer, then sanding it with 220 grit before staining. Another is to use the lightest stain you can find in the color range you're looking for and apply it in very light layers - that's best done with spray equipment, though.

Some "wood conditioners" can help with the absorption problem, but I have very limited experience with them. Too limited to make any suggestions there.

Something I've seen other people do, but never done myself, is to tint an oil finish with artist's oils and apply it to the bare wood. I don't know much about the process, other than you have to be careful to get the right kind of oil paint to tint the oil finish with. It's applied int he same way you'd apply an untinted oil finish.

Brian over at Six Gun Guitars did a video on tinting Tru-Oil with artist's oils. Here's a link to it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5nXwKROhZg

OH! While I'm at it - check gun shops and sporting goods stores for Tru-Oil. It is, after all, a gun stock finish. Your mileage may vary, but my local big box home improvement stores don't carry it. I've found it at 1 local hardware store, but he was asking double the price I bought it for at the sporting goods store. Basically, almost any store that handles guns carries it, or knows where you can get it locally.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on July 28, 2014 at 4:00pm

Thanks for the reply.... I'm learning so much and investigating so many things, I appreciate the tips and ideas. I need to look into that Tru-oil after seeing that video.

Gosh the neck on the one has such a great grain pattern that came out really nice in the end, just a shame that is the one that is going to end up on a Cigar Bar wall - might get sales from it though so I guess I'd rather have a good turn out for that one :)

Attachments:

• headstock.jpg, 29 KB
• neck.jpg, 24 KB

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Permalink Reply by Jim Goodman on July 28, 2014 at 4:26pm

My first build is now complete....

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