maple neck - easy finish schedule

[swampashstrat]

Hello to all.
New guy here. I need a little advice on a first build.

I built a chambered swamp ash strat. started a bout 2 years ago. ( yeah in know....)  I started in the middle of major home reconstruction, and then lots of unexpected stuff just started to happen. But the strat got build in the end.

Just got her back from a a tech, all is good, but WHAT? Played a while and the neck is sticky and gummy. It takes a time, but if you play it for an hour or so it gums up and feels like a fly trap.

Here's the deal. It is a rosewood board over maple. I sprayed a lacquer finish (Watco - nitro spray can) then sanded the back to bare wood. Did the burnish thing to 2000 grit, and rubbed BLO in the maple about 5 coats or so. Remember this was done a bout 2 years ago, and it sat in a case untouched until now.

The guitar tech thinks the small amount of lacquer left down by the nut and up by the neck joint didn't cure. I think the BLO is being summoned through sweat and heat. Either way I sanded her back down to raw.

What is a fool proof, rock solid finish that feels like it's not finished. Do I go with tru oil?  I have finished a shotgun stock with this stuff once.
I'm looking for experienced answers.

Thanks

Joe

 

[swampashstrat]

I should add one more thing.

The guitar body is finished in the same lacquer, but is from different cans. It still has a slight whiff of lacquer. If you rest your sweaty arm on the body for a while. It will feel slightly tacky, but not sticky. When drilling holes in the body it seems quite hard, all most brittle. Is this slight tack normal?

 

[Steve_Karl]

Minwax wipe on satin poly is pretty nice. (Home Depot quart can)
I refinished my maple neck with it in July, 2015 and it's still very good right now and I play this neck every day for a few hours.

Never sticky/tacky/grabby and when it begins to feel a bit dirty it cleans up really nice with just a rag damp with water and then dry it off.

It doesn't feel raw but it also doesn't grab like a glossy finish seems to.

Very easy to apply but best to do quick coats and not wipe back over the same place more than once or if twice very close in time to the first.

I did 6 coats with 1 day inbetween although they say it dries in a few hours.
Buffed with white scotchbrite between coats just to make sure no dust.
Wipe off with naptha after scotchbrite and use cotton gloves to make sure no skin oils during and after naptha wipe.

I also used the Minwax on my last body and I'm very happy with that also.

I always use the top part of a sock on my arm if I don't have a long sleeve shirt on.

 

[Cagey]

I've seen some beautiful oil-based finishes, but I've never met one I'd want to own unless it was just going to be a display piece. In my opinion, it's just not durable enough for instrument duty. The few times I've used it I've been disappointed, so I've given up on it. This is 2017. Finish technology has come a long way since the days of polymerized oil.

Unless that's a roasted Maple neck, you have to have a hard finish, so I'd follow Steve's advice - wipe-on satin poly. Dries hard, feels good, and will take abuse. I've used Behlen's Master Gel rather than Minwax's stuff, but they both get good reviews.

As for lacquer off-gassing, it can take a while. I would expect it to be more or less done after two years, but in an enclosed space like a case you'd probably still smell it.

 

[AirCap]

I've seen some beautiful oil-based finishes, but I've never met one I'd want to own unless it was just going to be a display piece. In my opinion, it's just not durable enough for instrument duty.

Oil finishes are not a spray it on and forget about it finish like polyurethane. They require maintenance periodically. Watco and TruOil can and must be rejuvenated once in awhile - no big deal. They provide some protection to the wood without encasing it, and a velvety, non-sticky feel for the player. Bonus - they are inexpensive, easy to apply, requiring no special equipment beyond a rag. What's not to like?

 

[Steve_Karl]

What's not to like?

Hours of excess work and wating time.

 

[colaiza65]

I have done 5 DIY and all have been maple. My last one (if you have the patience) went like this:
-Sanded down. I boiled about 5 tea bags and cut them open and poured all the contents on to the neck and fretboard for some color (tannins). Let dry for about 1 hr. Repeat. Clean lightly with Steel Wool.
-Applied a thick 1st coat of tru oil. Let dry 2 hrs. Applied 2nd coat. let dry.
-from this pint on, I lightly steel wooled between coats (3 coats a day) and then wiped with a dry clean rag. I did about 12 coats like this. Then, the last coat I applied with the steel wool. Let dry for a couple days. Wiped. It took about a couple of weeks to cure, but I got a really nice sheen and smoothness to it, borderline glossy (I usually prefer almost unfinished but I wanted something different). I hope this helps.
I have also used tea and coffee grinds  on another maple fingerboard and it comes out nice, but make sure you want that because it is permanent.