What do people use to seal the wood on the neck of your guitars. My guitar neck is a basic 1 x 2 of oak and aside from sanding it havent done anything to it. Anyone use polyurethane? Anything like that? Lemon oil comes to mind, I want to do as little as possible to it (my aesthetic, not cuz i'm lazy). I see there all kinds of special elixirs you can purchase to rub on your guitars. I wonder if snake oil would work?
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the "love and respect" crack suggests that I have an affair with my CBGs... I love my family and respect people who earn it... and haven't used poly on any of them ever. Even knowing that I am mildly obsessed with CBGs... they are things and frankly things that I don't expect to last decades, much less generations. In the main, I want quick/easy/servicable. I don't build museum pieces and like the idea of an "everyman" approah. I get that you don't like poly, but when I'm in the mood to build, I want something that I can get a decent finish on a humble CBG in one application.
CBG culture values a 2-way exchange. I pretty mellow until someone goes upper case on me....
the best,
Wichita Sam
Vince Stark said:
I didn't mean to offend... Just trying to use some of my cabinetry and luthier skills to help out. I suppose the "poly" comment is just an opinion...
Wichita Sam said:
wow... nice to have a realexpert to tell us how to do it right....
Vince Stark said:
Polyurethane should NOT be used on ANYTHING you love and respect! Lemon oil is just mineral oil with a very little actual lemon oil in it. Lemon oil is used on fret boards to "moisturize" the wood, and also for open grained finish maintenance. I use it about twice a year on my instruments, and on every neck that comes to my shop.
I've used various things over the years, but my latest is shellac. Zinnser Sealcoat is a good brand. I'm now allergic to scents and chemicals so shellac is about the friendliest thing out there. It's even friendlier if you make your own with shellac flakes and pure grain alcohol such as Everclear.
It's also easy to repair, has a nice feel, can be made satin or polished up to a gloss. The big advantage over lacquer is it will never crack with age. I have a 1918 Gibson L-1 done with a French polish shellac finish and 90 years later it's still smooth and uncracked.
For fingerboards (rosewood or similar which are left unfinished), I use paste wax. Lemon oil or any oil will cause fisheye if you ever need to refinish your guitar. Fisheye are round spots where the finish will not adhere to the wood.
I didn't mean to offend... Just trying to use some of my cabinetry and luthier skills to help out. I suppose the "poly" comment is just an opinion...
Wichita Sam said:
wow... nice to have a realexpert to tell us how to do it right....
Vince Stark said:
Polyurethane should NOT be used on ANYTHING you love and respect! Lemon oil is just mineral oil with a very little actual lemon oil in it. Lemon oil is used on fret boards to "moisturize" the wood, and also for open grained finish maintenance. I use it about twice a year on my instruments, and on every neck that comes to my shop.
wow... nice to have a realexpert to tell us how to do it right....
Vince Stark said:
Polyurethane should NOT be used on ANYTHING you love and respect! Lemon oil is just mineral oil with a very little actual lemon oil in it. Lemon oil is used on fret boards to "moisturize" the wood, and also for open grained finish maintenance. I use it about twice a year on my instruments, and on every neck that comes to my shop.
Polyurethane should NOT be used on ANYTHING you love and respect! Lemon oil is just mineral oil with a very little actual lemon oil in it. Lemon oil is used on fret boards to "moisturize" the wood, and also for open grained finish maintenance. I use it about twice a year on my instruments, and on every neck that comes to my shop.
Three parts tung oil to one part boiled linseed oil is a great sealer! It takes a little more drying time. It can be steel wooled and buffed for a nice smooth neck action. It looks natural and not plastic. I then clean and use a little lemon oil for upkeep and fragrance! This is what I use on my $2000 bass guitar, the instrument that earns my living....
The trick to not dribbling down the sides is to first, find a nice level place where the piece won't be moved and pour the resin there, pour it slowly to almost fill the space, then spread it right to the edge - don't worry about it being 'lumpy' looking, it will self level - then pour more, a little at a time and let the surface tension hold it at the edge.
If it does make the dive down the edge, don't worry about it. it takes a few days for it to set up rock hard, so after a day, you can trim away any dribbles and sand and polish the edges once it's completely set up.
It's better to avoid that if possible, as the sand and polish method is a lot of work.
Also, any bubbles in the resin will break up with a gentle breath - the carbon dioxide in your breath breaks the bubbles, not the force or heat of your breath. A glance with a small butane torch does the same thing.
Diane said:
For acoustic, that would likely dull the sound substantially. If you're going to make electric, you can do anything you want. Sure would be cool looking, that's for sure! How do you spread it on the top and not have it dribble down the sides? I am assuming you're going for that glassy look?
We've used Tru-Oil for Most of our guitar builds and on all of our necks ... We just pot a drop or two on the wood and rub, rub, rub , till it gets tacky... once that coat is dry , another and another .... after a few coats we use 4/0 steel wool across the grain , then more coats ... more rubbing ... about 10 coats produces a finish that rivals a good poly finisg , and if you wait a couple weeks , it will buff up to a High Shine !!!
One little bottle will do 3 or 4 guitars , and probably a whole bunch of CBG necks ... Trick is not to apply too much at one time ... just a couple drops followed by a lot of rubbing ... the less you use the better it works ...
FWIW , we also use it on the longbows we make , so the flexibility of the finish has been well tested... Repairs easily too ...
I've often used the Formsby Tung Oil, like Diane, with very good results. The more coats, the darker the "stain" effect, if the wood is natural to begin with. Goes on just as well if the wood is stained beforehand too. Very easy to apply and extremely forgiving on streaks and such. 3 to 4 coats does a great job.
I've also used a lot of the Vaspar Spray Laquer on my bodies, and even used it on the last CBG neck I made. Very good results with it as well. Quick drying, and also seems to be very good about not running or streaking.
Diane said:
Tung oil for me. Lots of light coats, little steel wool in between. Super easy to mend shop dings at the end, too. Swab a bit on and a lil scratch is gone.
My brand (Homer Formsby!) finishes glossier than the Danish oil from the hardware store. I just bought a new can of Behr tung oil, have not tried it yet. My danish oil is rich looking, but not shiny or glossy or even a sheen at all. Maybe I need to muscle up on the sanding in between.
Replies
the "love and respect" crack suggests that I have an affair with my CBGs... I love my family and respect people who earn it... and haven't used poly on any of them ever. Even knowing that I am mildly obsessed with CBGs... they are things and frankly things that I don't expect to last decades, much less generations. In the main, I want quick/easy/servicable. I don't build museum pieces and like the idea of an "everyman" approah. I get that you don't like poly, but when I'm in the mood to build, I want something that I can get a decent finish on a humble CBG in one application.
CBG culture values a 2-way exchange. I pretty mellow until someone goes upper case on me....
the best,
Wichita Sam
Vince Stark said:
It's also easy to repair, has a nice feel, can be made satin or polished up to a gloss. The big advantage over lacquer is it will never crack with age. I have a 1918 Gibson L-1 done with a French polish shellac finish and 90 years later it's still smooth and uncracked.
For fingerboards (rosewood or similar which are left unfinished), I use paste wax. Lemon oil or any oil will cause fisheye if you ever need to refinish your guitar. Fisheye are round spots where the finish will not adhere to the wood.
Wichita Sam said:
Vince Stark said:
If it does make the dive down the edge, don't worry about it. it takes a few days for it to set up rock hard, so after a day, you can trim away any dribbles and sand and polish the edges once it's completely set up.
It's better to avoid that if possible, as the sand and polish method is a lot of work.
Also, any bubbles in the resin will break up with a gentle breath - the carbon dioxide in your breath breaks the bubbles, not the force or heat of your breath. A glance with a small butane torch does the same thing.
Diane said:
One little bottle will do 3 or 4 guitars , and probably a whole bunch of CBG necks ... Trick is not to apply too much at one time ... just a couple drops followed by a lot of rubbing ... the less you use the better it works ...
FWIW , we also use it on the longbows we make , so the flexibility of the finish has been well tested... Repairs easily too ...
I've also used a lot of the Vaspar Spray Laquer on my bodies, and even used it on the last CBG neck I made. Very good results with it as well. Quick drying, and also seems to be very good about not running or streaking.
Diane said:
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