How about BURNISHING an alder body.

[vikingred]

Ok, so I saw a good deal on the warmoth site for a body and grabbed it.  It's an alder body, and already cut for a wilkinson with inserts done already.  Bought the body and a black wilkinson tremolo to go with it.  Neck is to be determined.  It's a little coolish lookin:

So I know it would be a long and laborious process, but how about burnishing this body?  No stain or anything, just get a shite-ton of sandpaper and go for it.  Crazy?  If so, what's next best simplest thing, to keep it as natural as possible?  Tung oil?  Or if not simple then something really cool to do with it?  Thanks in advance for the feedback.

 

[pabloman]

TruOil or Wudtone :headbang1:

 

[Cagey]

How to burnish a body? Buy 8 cases of beer and invite 5 of of your closest friends over for about 9 hours of work. Be aware that raw bodies usually look awful in no time flat.

Even though it's not very dense/hard, Alder is a fairly close-grained wood, which makes it much easier than many other species to prep for finish. But, it's generally not attractive enough on its own to make a natural finish desirable. Most Alder bodies have opaque finishes.

That said, almost anything you put on it will take less work than usual and look good.

 

[vikingred]

Could shoot it with rattle cans of black lacquer and then a bunch of clear.  Yikes.

 

[Cagey]

Yikes is right. I normally recommend that unless you want a finish that Warmoth does not or will not do, you let them put the finish on. It's a bargain and a half, considering the quality and durability you end up with. A good poly finish is tough for the DIY guy to do, and a good lacquer finish is a helluva lotta work. Either way, you'll spend more than Warmoth charges. They spend all day every day doing that kind of work. They're set up for it, and very good at it. You can't compete with it.

 

[vikingred]

Yikes is right. I normally recommend that unless you want a finish that Warmoth does not or will not do, you let them put the finish on. It's a bargain and a half, considering the quality and durability you end up with. A good poly finish is tough for the DIY guy to do, and a good lacquer finish is a helluva lotta work. Either way, you'll spend more than Warmoth charges. They spend all day every day doing that kind of work. They're set up for it, and very good at it. You can't compete with it.

Yeah, imma teach the wife and kids how to burnish.  Heh.  Just ordered a cheap showcase CBS unfinished maple neck/indian rosewood board with SS6115 frets, and some black mini schallers and a GraphTech Black TUSQ XL nut:

 

[Cagey]

Sigh. Yer an addict. Gonna need some kinda 12 step program. But, in the meantime... happiness! 

 

[vikingred]

Sigh. Yer an addict. Gonna need some kinda 12 step program. But, in the meantime... happiness!

You pegged me.  I'm powerless over GASing but my life isn't unmanageable yet.  heh.  Lights out.

 

[vikingred]

Ok, if I've gotta do this alder body myself, and burnishing is out, how about clear polyurethane?  I like the finish/grain plain and all like it is.  I'm not a color guy, or if I am it's gotta be black or white.  And yeah, Warmoth can do that much better than me.  What are my options here?  Creative options?  Something different or unusual? 

 

[vikingred]

Bump.  Any more specific suggestions (even experimental) for a finish for the body on this project?

 

[Cagey]

There are a number of brush-on or wipe-on polys out there. They don't generally flow out as well as the sprayed 2-part finishes, but it would protect the wood, anyway. Or, there's always the dreaded oil finish. Lotta work for a low-durability finish, but it's a finish, nonetheless. Or, you could contact Grape Ape and see if he wants to do one of his fantastic woodburning pieces. Alder would work great for that.

 

[vikingred]

There are a number of brush-on or wipe-on polys out there. They don't generally flow out as well as the sprayed 2-part finishes, but it would protect the wood, anyway. Or, there's always the dreaded oil finish. Lotta work for a low-durability finish, but it's a finish, nonetheless. Or, you could contact Grape Ape and see if he wants to do one of his fantastic woodburning pieces. Alder would work great for that.

Contacted Great Ape, and he's jammed up till next April.  I'm gonna avoid dreaded oil finish.  So I guess I'll look into some brush on polyurethane.  Still considering the idea of burnishing it.  I guess the question is how much time/effort for what kind of effect, and how much is it worth to me time/aesthetic wise.  An alder body certainly isn't exotic.  Might be more interesting or worth it to burnish something more exotic, I dunno, Korina, or Mahogany? But it is a decision that needs to be made rather quickly because I understand you can't just let it sit unfinished for very long. 

 

[Cagey]

Korina and Mahogany are both pretty open-grained woods and wouldn't respond to the treatment very well.

As for letting it sit, it won't get hurt by that unless you handle it a lot. If you can't make up your mind or finances are tight or whatever to deal with the thing immediately, just put it back in the box and stash it for a rainy day. Lord knows lots of us here have bodies/necks doing just that. You see something you gotta have but know you can't get to it for whatever reasons, so you buy it anyway in order to have it for when the spirit or finances move you.

 

[vikingred]

Korina and Mahogany are both pretty open-grained woods and wouldn't respond to the treatment very well.

As for letting it sit, it won't get hurt by that unless you handle it a lot. If you can't make up your mind or finances are tight or whatever to deal with the thing immediately, just put it back in the box and stash it for a rainy day. Lord knows lots of us here have bodies/necks doing just that. You see something you gotta have but know you can't get to it for whatever reasons, so you buy it anyway in order to have it for when the spirit or finances move you.

Oh, ok.  I misunderstood then.  It can sit a while, just don't paw at it.  Gonna look into some brush on polys.

 

[vikingred]

Ok, so I've decided to use Zinsser clear spray shellac to seal it, and Minwax wipe on poly satin finish.  Before I do that, maybe I'll do some kind of Kirk Hammett Quija board on it or sumpin' crazy.  Or maybe grab a woodburner off ebay and go to town.  Wink.

 

[dmraco]

Min wax satin spray poly.  You will not be sorry.  I hit this zebra and maple neck with satin poly spray and it looks great 5 years later. Just did 2 or three coats for coverage. I spaced them by about 15 minutes

 

[vikingred]

Min wax satin spray poly.  You will not be sorry.  I hit this zebra and maple neck with satin poly spray and it looks great 5 years later. Just did 2 or three coats for coverage. I spaced them by about 15 minutes

Wow, that is super cool.  I already ordered the rub-on Min Wax Satin.  Hope it works as well as the spray on did for you.

 

[Vallhagen]

Did you checkout Wudtone? I saw it mentioned earlier in thread.

 

[vikingred]

Did you checkout Wudtone? I saw it mentioned earlier in thread.

Yah, I wasn't thrilled with the reviews of Wudtone and similar products.  So I decided to go with shellac as a sealer and rub on poly.