Question that I am I am struggling to find the answer for....
Living in Houston we are always dealing with high humidity and sweat.
I stained my poplar necks with Minwax oil based golden oak - the necks fuzzed up and came out really dark which I didn't anticipate. Not terrible, but not what I was after... I hit them with a finish sanding and the smoothed up nice. I plan on leaving them exposed to direct sunlight for a few days, the idea is to just kinda try a fade age them a bit. My thought is the sun will be more natural as opposed to using mineral oil.
My question comes to finishing the necks - I bought Minwax Poly, but am reading that it may be actually remain somewhat tacky and not be a practical finish. Reading several other places about different finishes I have not quite found an answer to the question posed like this....
1) I love the "natural feel" of smooth wood
2) the humidity down here can get ridiculous, so I desire a finish something that will not feel sticky yet keep the neck from getting to impacted by sweat as well as other environmentals... then again maybe that's what I want since I play a lot of smokey nasty bars.
3) I also want to consider protecting the paper and label on the boxes themselves within reason, I am not certain shellac is what I want to do.
As an aside, both necks stained completely different, one really darkened the grain rather nicely and the other neck every imperfection in the wood seems to be seen which doesn't bother me too much.
All that said I am looking for recommendations with these considerations.
Thanks!
Replies
Tru-Oil is one of the easiest and safest finishes to apply.
Poplar is a painting wood not a staining wood.
Shellac is not as water resistant as other available products.
Krylon has products specifically designed to preserve paper artwork, check art supply stores.
Nice tips, thanks! I did like how the stain came out on one of the poplar necks, but do need to look at an acceptable alternatives - appreciate the reply.
My first build is now complete....
And a good looking build it is, too! Couldn't help but notice that you have a Java build going in the background. That was my first build too, except I went with a natural oak neck - no stain, just a couple of coats of spar urethane...
I have a black Java box too - I just haven't gotten to it yet. I think I decided on using an antiqued oak neck on it, but I really don't remember. It's in the rack someplace, waiting it's turn...
Just my opinion, and take it for what it's worth, but especially if you know that a build is going to be a wall-hanger (like in that bar you mentioned) there's absolutely nothing wrong with using polyurethane. Lots of people use it on builds that aren't going to be wall-hangers. Spray lacquer works very well too. The big brand of spray lacquer is named Deft, and it can be found at most home improvement stores. Lots of people use it as well. I'll bet most of them don't even realize that Deft is nitrocellulose lacquer - the same stuff used by the big guitar makers like Fender...
Good point - I'm learning so much doing this and having fun at the same time, thanks for the tips :)
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.
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 :)
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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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