Burnishing Raw Necks

[Cagey]

It makes for a nicer 'board. Feels/looks great, doesn't wear off, and doesn't muck up your frets. Unfortunately, because of warranty considerations, neck manufacturers bury the cost of fret installation in the neck, so if you buy a neck slotted but unfretted you end up doing a lot of work fretting it that you already paid somebody else to do. Be nice if you could get them to polish the 'board before they do fret installation, but it's kinda labor-intensive so even if they were willing, it would probably be pricey. The only reason it worked out ok (in my mind) for that Canary neck was because it was bound. There's quite a premium on gold or stainless frets going on bound necks, so I got to save a worthwhile chunk of change.

 

[cheekymunky]

Hi im new
surprised I never hear the following suggestion mentioned ever 
have you ever considered using the traditional French polishing technique for smoothing youre neck.
very briefly
You rub in pumice and alcohol then some shellac ,not the tinned premade stuff. the flakes. make sure its unwaxed
just a thin mix shellac + 10-20% sandarac flakes you just mix it with alcohol and rub it in.
the more you play, the neck gets smoother. Its even better than a raw neck,And it looks better an keeps the neck clean too.
Try it it will cost you less than 10 bucks for the materials.

BTW is that verification case sensitive
And What year was last year?:Lol I had to think about that one

 

[Cagey]

Welcome to the forum! We have a lotta fun here, and hope you'll join in with all that.

The "French Polishing" method is fairly well-known and works well, but it doesn't work on everything. If your neck meat is of a more traditional wood such as Maple, you're good to go. But, many of the necks people buy from Warmoth are purchased specifically because they use exotic woods, some of which don't want to take any kind of finish due to natural oil content. Plus, even if you could finish them, you then have the issue of the finish wearing off. Burnishing as is described in this thread gets you an ultra-smooth satin neck that stays that way forever and ever, amen.

 

[cheekymunky]

thanks cagey
Thing is I have a couple of very old parlor guitars the necks are like Teflon.
what I was getting at with the shellac was not a complete finish all shiny and that, just the basic first very thin coat that seals the grain.as the shellac wears down through playing it becomes smoother,not only does it wear off but it sort of gets pushed into the wood like its putty If that's makes any sence?
Anyway Im building a strat, bought a warmoth bocote neck with ebony fretboard. cant wait till it gets here.

It will be a stratovarius I hope :sign13: :glasses9:
Im building a stratovarius. with a Floyd rose.

 

[Cagey]

Ebony over Bocote should be an excellent piece of work! Both are very hard woods, so it should have a lotta presence.

Hope you're having them put stainless frets on it. They're one of the finest things to happen to guitars since strings.

Nice name, btw... "Stratovarius" <grin>

 

[cheekymunky]

stainless frets LOL no nono I hate stainless frets they are smooth they last. they feel vgood but I once fretted a nice acoustic and with what was left over I refretted half of an LP. very excited but after stringing those guitars up they and they realy destroyed the sound, they took away the warm mid and bottom end I ripped them out immediately.
I then contemplated gold evos Much more expensive so I asked for a sample and they obliged. I put 5 in my LP Im still not sure bout them.
but I didn't want to take any risk when paying $400 for a neck from warmoth so I went with good ol nickel silver.
aspecially a compound radius.
I know that over 90% of people like the stainless but I don't.
Same goes for graph tech nuts and bridge saddles. I don't like them
BTW I will post pics of my build when I finish it.

 

[AutoBat]

I'll advise you not to play my Strat. It's got a Graph Tech nut, saddles, and stainless steel frets

 

[cheekymunky]

I'll advise you not to play my Strat. It's got a Graph Tech nut, saddles, and stainless steel frets

you're Strat. probably sucks But Im gonna come to youre house and play it anyway. And then tell you how much it sucks so much and tell you why.

 

[mark1178]

Waiting on my raw maple neck w/rosewood fingerboard to come in. Guess I'll add sand paper and boiled linseed oil to the grocery list.

 

[Updown]

Waiting on my raw maple neck w/rosewood fingerboard to come in. Guess I'll add sand paper and boiled linseed oil to the grocery list.

  :icon_scratch:  So it won't actually be a RAW neck once you linseed oil it  ..... will it.

This thread is about 'Polishing RAW Necks'. ..... more of the exotic woods.
Have a look at this list, that don't need a finish.
http://www.warmoth.com/Guitar/Necks/NeckWoods.aspx

The closest Maple I have to a RAW neck is with the 'Clear Satin Nitro Finish'

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Just out of curiosity Updown, how come you always write the word "raw" in capitals?

 

[Updown]

Just out of curiosity Updown, how come you always write the word "raw" in capitals?

Ha Ha Ha ...... that's just to annoy you  :icon_jokercolor:
(since your gunna win the ashes, again)

I really don't know why  :icon_scratch:  ..... I promise NOT to do it again  :toothy11: 

Raw
Raw
Raw
Raw

That better  :dontknow:

 

[stubhead]

On my new bloodwood/ebony I was happily polishing away, in the zone, at a Zenn-y one inside my grits.... But - I got somewhere up around the pink & aqua papers, and I noticed that the paper towels I was using to clear it up for the next grit were actually "scratching" up my loverly shine! I mean it's fine to sand your brains out. stroke it Oooh! Aaah! Oooh! Aaah! but out there in the real world with fingernails & atom bombs & string windings (careful with that capo, Eugene!) & greasy drunken "sit-ins" and sabre-toothed tigers & beer etc, there just may be a certain point of diminishing returns. :icon_scratch:

I guess it's still cheaper than collecting Ferrari's and still a whole lot less weird than golf by many orders of magnitude. Do you have any idea of how much it costs to go to Scotland and get mad at little balls that you hit way the hell out there - and then have to go fetch them yourself? Thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars... maybe, if there was someone out there a-hittin' 'em back.... :evil4:

Bow hunters - camouflage toothpaste;... camouflage condoms;... contact lenses...



I am normal...

I am normal... :hello2:

I am normal... :hello2:

I am normal... :hello2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTT_R3apu7w

 

[Roland]

Cagey (or anyone else who has used them)- how long do those 3M Polishing Papers typically last? How many times could I reasonably expect to do this (I have 6 raw necks currently) before the paper is shot and I need a new one?

Also, did you dry sand with each grit or did it help to wet sand a couple? I think someone in this thread mentioned wet sanding with the higher grits. What are the comparative advantages/disadvantages of both techniques?

 

[Cagey]

I don't know how far you can go with the papers. I typically only use a quarter or half sheet and for as long as it takes to get the job done, I don't want to start a fresh neck with a worn piece and find I'm working for nothing because my abrasive isn't cutting. But, I'm probably wasting the stuff by giving up on it too early - I understand some guys use this stuff for quite a while, and I think it's even washable.

As for wet/dry, it's ok to get the polishing papers wet, but I don't know of any advantage to wet sanding raw wood. If anything, it's probably detrimental. Also, wetting raw wood isn't really a great idea because it tends to raise the grain. Wet sanding is for finishes, where it prevents clumping/clotting and acts as a lubricant.

 

[Colin007]

Question, what's the upkeep or maintenance on a sanded/burnished neck? Obviously wiping down with oil or anything like that would defeat the purpose of the sanding, so how do you clean it?

 

[Steve_Karl]

I wouldn't think that a wipe with lemon oil would defeat the sanding but would like to hear other opinions.

 

[Tonar8352]

I occasionally wipe mine down with a paper towel and benzene, then I will polish it back up with
2000 wet/dry. I really only do that if the neck is feeling like its starting to drag.

 

[Colin007]

What's the maintenence/cleaning on a burnished neck?

 

[Cagey]

I do like Tonar, except I use Naphtha rather than Benzene. Much less toxic. I suspect denatured alcohol would work as well. You're basically just trying to get the hand oils off the thing and any of those solvents will cut it.