First DIY Attempt...A Few Questions

[rspst14]

I have two necks on order, one is maple/maple and one is maple/ebony.  After much debate and time spent comparing finishing options, I've decided that Minwax wipe-on poly offers a good combination of playability, protection, and forgiveness for a first-time DIY'er.  I'm going to start with the all maple neck, since it's less expensive.  If all goes well, I'll do the other one.  A few questions I was hoping to get answered before I try this:

1.  How much yellowing can I expect from multiple coats of wipe-on poly?  I'd like a slight amber tint to the maple, so the yellowing is actually desirable. 

2.  Do I use 0000 steel wool for light rubbing between coats, or would micromesh be a better option?

3.  Does the heel of the neck get finished too?  I've never ordered a finished neck from Warmoth, so I don't know how they do it.

4.  Can I do this on a tabletop with some type of lint-free paper underneath, or does it need to hang?  I've never used this stuff before and don't know if it runs.

5.  Assuming all goes well on the maple neck, do I use painters tape or masking tape to protect the fretboard of the maple/ebony neck? 

6.  On the maple/maple neck, do I wait until I'm all done to remove any finish from the frets, or should I buff them with steel wool after each coat has dried to prevent a larger buildup?

I know that's a lot, but if anyone has insight on any of these issues, I'd appreciate it.  Thanks.

 

[croquet hoop]

I'd advise you to begin with the maple-ebony neck. Dealing with the back of the neck and the headstock alone will be far easier than having to do everything including the fretboard.

Steel wool is good for rubbing between coats, you can save micro mesh for the polishing stage, if you want that type of finish. The heel of the neck is finished at least partly — if you attach it to something, like this, part of it won't be finished but it's no big deal since it will contact the body and not be exposed to moisture.

You can work on a table top; since you are supposed to wipe the finish thin, it's not supposed to run, so as long as you make sure not to put it down on its wet side right after applying it it will be all right. It does not need to hang like when you spray stuff.

As for the frets on the maple neck, wait until you're done with the finish before removing it from the frets. Even with multiple coats, the finish will be thin anyway, so it will just flake off the frets as you play, or be removed when/if you perform fretwork afterwards. So, no need to bother with finish removal on frets between coats.

 

[dmraco]

Here are my 2 cents.

I stay away from steel wool. It can get dirty and leave lots of little pieces of metal behind.  A good quality wet-dry sandpaper around 600 grit works great.  If you are careful you should be able to get all you need in a few passes.  Give it time to set but not dry and hit it again. Then you only have to sand and buff when done.

Unless you absolutely have no place to spray, a single can of spray poly works well and goes on much smoother.  I use masking to tape the fretboard.  No issues. 

Before you start to spray wipe the whole thing down with naphtha to remove dirt and oil.  I spray the whoe neck but be careful not to spray too much on the heel.  It will build quick and make the neck a too tight in the body.

For the maple maple neck, I will defer to the other experts.  I have not done this

 

[Day-mun]

I am with DMRACO on the spray stuff; I use Minwax fast-drying Satin Polyurethane on my necks. Another member, fretless loves the wipe-on stuff; if you re intent on using it, I'd PM him and get the low-down on his tricks and secrets. the satin spray stuff I use goes on really nice, and the finish feels almost powdery-smooth. -Doesn't matter how sweaty my hands get while playing; the friction/adhesion factor that makes a neck "sticky" when one's hands are moist is nearly non-existent. Unlike when I had lacquer (-which I stripped and replaced with the Minwax) and on my W-finished gloss poly finishes, the sticky neck thing just doesn't happen. -But don't chince-out, get the Minwax brand. The spray nozzle is better than the hardware store generic knock-off rattle-cans, and is designed to fan the stream into a finer mist.

De-grease the ebony and wear gloves EVERY TIME you touch it until you get the finish on! I have a theory that the darker the fretboard wood, the better it soaks up skin oils and moisture. My ebony 'board has places along the shoulder (near the seam where the maple meets the ebony near the side-dots) where, even after the finish cured, the poly simply WILL NOT stick... I handled the piece bare-handed when it was naked, and even though I bathed the thing in naptha, I still had issues. The only other thing I can think of is maybe some weird reaction to the adhesive in the masking tape I use that happens right there at the edge of the tape...  :icon_scratch:

 

[rspst14]

Thanks guys.  Spraying is probably not an option for me.  I live in an apartment in the middle of a large city, so there's no good place for me to do this.  I can do the wipe-on stuff in an area that's reasonably well ventilated, so I had planned on going that route.

 

[Day-mun]

PM fretless, then; the dude loves the wipe-on, and his stuff turns out looking killer... he can give ya the inside scoop. -Guaranteed.

 

[Ddbltrbl]

I've had pretty good luck with the wipe-on poly as well. My "Nylon Tele" from this past GOM is one example. So, if you can't spray its' a pretty good option. And, I totally agree with DMRACO on the steel wool... avoid it if you can. I keep a couple of well worn 3M pads that I use (making sure to keep them very clean). Good luck on it!

 

[dmraco]

I did a whole guitar with the spray satin poly......Awesome.  Like Day-min said, it's like powder

 

[Day-mun]

I've only ever done this on necks... Hmm,  :sign13: I've got a '51 bass body that needs to be fiddled with....

 

[croquet hoop]

And, I totally agree with DMRACO on the steel wool... avoid it if you can. I keep a couple of well worn 3M pads that I use (making sure to keep them very clean).

Whatever you use, you'll have to dust off the thing anyway, and since all brands of steel wool are not created equal (some do not shred and leave as much residue) I wouldn't write it off completely. But it's true that the 3M synthetic wool is a very nice alternative.

 

[rspst14]

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I have enough knowledge now to do this myself without destroying the neck. One more question: when sanding between coats with 600 grit paper, am I wet sanding or dry sanding? I would assume it's just a light rub with dry sandpaper, but I thought I'd better verify that.

 

[bagman67]

You surmise correctly.  A light rub with dry sandpaper - then you will want to wipe with a soft cloth and naptha to get the sanding dust before you re-coat.

 

[rspst14]

So I thought I'd follow up on this thread, first to say thanks to everyone for their guidance and also to share my results.  I did a Warmoth maple/ebony Arcade neck and a Musikraft CBS maple Strat neck with Minwax wipe-on gloss poly, and both turned out exceptionally well given that these were my first and second attempts at finishing anything.  After letting the Arcade neck cure for a month, I just finished doing the final micromesh polish.  The neck felt tacky when the final coat had dried, but it felt much better after it sat for a month.  I went through six progressively finer micromesh pads, and it now feels very smooth.  Not quite like an unfinished neck, but about as nice as you're going to get with a poly finish.  It feels just as nice as my broken-in Gibson necks with lacquer finishes.  I may hit it with some polishing compound, but it looks and feels really nice as is.

I wanted a balance between protection and feel and I definitely got that from the wipe-on poly.  It's thinner than a factory poly finish, but feels like it will be every bit as durable.  I did seven coats on each neck, with light sanding in between.  The only minor issue I ran into was with the CBS neck.  The finish has a tendency to build up around the frets, although I should be able to smooth it out a bit.  I suspect the cyanoacrylate used to glue in the frets makes it more difficult for the finish to adhere in a thin coat like it does on the back of the neck.  It's definitely important to keep each coat thin.  Still, it's nothing major, the neck looks fantastic.  I'm going to let it sit for another two weeks, then I'll see if I can even it out around the frets.

A couple of people have asked about the yellowing effect of wipe-on poly, it did add a slight amber tint to the neck.  Nothing like the vintage tint Warmoth offers, it's much more subtle.  My digital camera is over ten years old, but you can at least see the gloss and the slight yellowing in the pictures.  I wish I'd thought to take some before pictures, but the unfinished maple was a very pale shade of rock maple.