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Neck finish

Well, my fret wire is on order from Gitty. My plan is to cut the slots, finish the neck then fret it. That way I avoid getting finish on the frets. Anyhow, when building other projects I've always used Poly. It works good for most of the things I've built. But I've never built a guitar. And since I don't play a guitar, I don't know what a good finish for a neck is. I assume you want it to be nice and smooth so your fingers will slide. But also durable so it's not coming off in sheets while you play.

So what do you experts like to put on you guitar necks to make them nice but also works well for playing?

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on December 15, 2010 at 4:47pm

French polish all the way for me. That or oil

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on December 15, 2010 at 5:51pm

Deft Clear Wood Finish. 5 - 10 coats in copious amounts of the canned version, sand with 400g, then spray with the aerosol. Polish with Mothers Aluminum and Mag wheel polish.

Makes a smeeeewth as glass shine.

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Mungo Park on December 16, 2010 at 5:09am

Tru Oil from the sports shops, put on thin coats with your fingers, nice easy bullet proof, I have read lots of guitar neck finish threads and this is the most popular way. Cheers Ron.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny Debit on December 16, 2010 at 7:12am

I am also a true believer in Tru-Oil as well. It always sets-up hard and sure. It also works well as a grain filler if you sand it in the wet oil for the first few coats.

Mungo Park said:

Tru Oil from the sports shops, put on thin coats with your fingers, nice easy bullet proof, I have read lots of guitar neck finish threads and this is the most popular way. Cheers Ron.

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Permalink Reply by Justin on December 16, 2010 at 7:19am

I'll check out the true finish and the deft. I do need somewhat fast drying between coats. I don't have 2 weeks to finish this thing so I can't wait a day between coats for 5 to 10 coats.

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Permalink Reply by Huntz Meyer on December 16, 2010 at 7:19am

No expert, but I've been using Rockler's Tung Oil. Easy to do, looks great, plays nicely. Touches up no problem. Getting the wood prepped is important for smooth finish. I use sandpaper to 320, then 0000 steel wool.

Still in no expert mode, I get my necks prepped to 120 grit, fretboard top to 320, then fret them. My fret filing technique is improving, but by saving final sanding let's me fix minor whoops. After frets are filed, I then finish sanding sides and back, then steel wool all over and tung oil. I haven't been staining lately unless I'm using poplar. Fret ends are coming out nicely - smooth to touch and won't snag a dusting cloth. Natural wood looks great.

Huntz

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Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on December 16, 2010 at 7:33am

French polish will dry as fast as you can apply it.

Justin said:

I'll check out the true finish and the deft. I do need somewhat fast drying between coats. I don't have 2 weeks to finish this thing so I can't wait a day between coats for 5 to 10 coats.

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Permalink Reply by Justin on December 16, 2010 at 7:33am

I've not used it before. Available at any home improvement type store?

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on December 16, 2010 at 7:46am

You can put on 3-4 coats a day depending on the thickness and temp/humidity.

-WY
Justin said:

I'll check out the true finish and the deft. I do need somewhat fast drying between coats. I don't have 2 weeks to finish this thing so I can't wait a day between coats for 5 to 10 coats.

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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on December 16, 2010 at 7:48am

Huzza! French polish is great, but you have to master the technique. You will need some fresh, wax free shellac. Best to use shellac flakes cut with Everclear (95% grain alcohol). Old shellac or the shellac like regular Zinser won't work well. You can buy Zinser grain filler shellac which in reality is wax free shellac. I've heard that will work. I think its 3#-4# cut tho and you prolly want to use 1#-2# cut.

-WY

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

French polish will dry as fast as you can apply it.

Justin said:

I'll check out the true finish and the deft. I do need somewhat fast drying between coats. I don't have 2 weeks to finish this thing so I can't wait a day between coats for 5 to 10 coats.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) on December 16, 2010 at 8:00am

Honestly, a French polish is pretty simple. The only draw back for the beginner is that it's so laborious. A lot of tutorials get very complicated and recommend pumice for break down and level but here's the basic recipe that I use:

- 8 oz denatured alcohol (get it from Lowe's)

- .4 oz shellac flakes

- Mix the alcohol and shellac in a mason jar and let it sit over night. After it's mostly dissolved, strain it through a double layer of cheese cloth and its ready to go.

Make your fads out of linen from a bag of rags (Lowe's) and folded up cheesecloth (Lowe's).

Load your fad with about 4 drops of shellac (I use a drinking straw with my finger pressed on it because I'm too lazy to go get an eye dropper). Rub it in. Repeat.

I do 4 coats and then let it cure for an hour or two. Then I wet sand with 2000g wet/dry and olive oil. 12 coats will get you where you want to go. Anything over that will just build up more protection. If you work diligently, you should be done in two or three days.

Wes "Moanin' Mule" Yates said:

Huzza! French polish is great, but you have to master the technique. You will need some fresh, wax free shellac. Best to use shellac flakes cut with Everclear (95% grain alcohol). Old shellac or the shellac like regular Zinser won't work well. You can buy Zinser grain filler shellac which in reality is wax free shellac. I've heard that will work. I think its 3#-4# cut tho and you prolly want to use 1#-2# cut.

-WY

Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:

French polish will dry as fast as you can apply it.

Justin said:

I'll check out the true finish and the deft. I do need somewhat fast drying between coats. I don't have 2 weeks to finish this thing so I can't wait a day between coats for 5 to 10 coats.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Don Thompson on December 16, 2010 at 8:38am

I prefer to fret and then finish my necks. I use blue masking tape and cover the frets and the top of the fingerboard then apply my finish. Too much filing, sanding, steel wooling that creates at least to me much more work to protect than doing the finish last.

Don