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Permalink Reply by Tom T on March 20, 2020 at 7:18am

Finishes seem to be a very personal thing. Everyone has their favorite.

For a neck, I don't care if it's shiny or dull as long as it is ultra smooth. Most of my necks are hard maple, so finishing them to a smooth surface is not a major chore.

My personal favorite on hard woods is hand rubbed shellac. You putt a little on a cotton cloth then rub it into the grain. If you want fill the grain, a sprinkle of 0000 pumice works great. It not only fills grain, it gently sands the surface.

A lot of folks don't much care for shellac, but I figure that's because they haven't tried hand rubbing. It's a finish that's almost impossible to screw up. You rub until it's smooth, put some more on your cloth and go again. Drying time is around five minutes.

For the final finishing, a small drop of olive oil on your cloth, then some shellac makes a very smooth finish.

Plenty of online videos about hand rubbing shellac. Covers all the details.

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Permalink Reply by Southern Ray on March 20, 2020 at 2:55pm

I have used boiled linseed oil on mine for almost three years now and I have been very pleased with the results. There are a couple of handling routines that have to be followed to avoid burning things down, but that is an easy thing. I just take a 1 inch square of soft cloth and get it moist, rub it on and wipe it off vigorously. The longer you leave it on the darker it gets, it seems. End grains get much darker than sides of neck. Hope that helps;

Ray

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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on March 23, 2020 at 4:39pm

How about Wipe on Poly, also Poly comes in a non-gloss for those who don’t like shiny? 

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