Mixing danish oil and wipe on poly finishes . . .

[guitarstv]

I really love the Danish oil finish that my maple Charvel neck has.  It's smooth, with just a hint of sheen and is lovely to the touch.  The one thing that I hate is that the fretboard gets gunky and attracts dirt more quickly than any other guitar I've got (the back of the neck is always fine though).  I've got to really deep clean it with some lighter fluid and sandpaper, and then re-apply the Danish oil every year or so to keep it from looking gross.

I've slowly finished my new maple neck with about six coats of Watco Danish Oil (yes, going off Warmoth warranty here) over a couple weeks and it's looking/feeling really great - just like my Charvel neck now.  But the fretboard thing has been nagging the back of my mind.  My understanding is that you can put wipe on poly over Danish oil, but has anyone just put wipe on poly on the fretboard of a guitar?

I was thinking of taping it off with painters tape, and then putting one or two thin coats of the poly to try to avoid the gunk build up issue . . . hopefully while keeping the smooth feel on the back of the neck.  Will the poly dry to a significantly different colour and look funny?  Will there be a weird edge where I tape off the fretboard that can't be sanded smooth?  Anyone ever tried this before?

Worst case scenario I'll just live with the gunk. 

 

[Rick]

What's the fret board made out of?

 

[guitarstv]

Maple board, maple neck.

 

[guitarstv]

Well, to anyone who might be searching this topic in the future . . .


I did my last coat of Danish oil, then waited a couple weeks to make sure that the oil was completely dried out.  Then very carefully taped off the edges of the fretboard and the sides of the headstock with painter's tape and applied three coats of gloss wipe on poly to both.  Headstock came out great, but I cocked up the fretboard a bit (saw a couple small bubbles that I stupidly tried to wipe off on the last coat, kinda smearing the gloss) so will have to sand that down a bunch and try another couple coats.  Wipe on poly is a lot more finnicky to use than Danish oil and requires a very different method of application.

Followed instructions for the wipe on poly - so did three reps of apply a thin coat, and let sit for four hours.  Then I was concerned about the painter's tape hardening to the finish and maybe causing damage when removing if it was fully cured so pulled it off as the third coat was drying.

The colour is perfect - exactly the same shade as the rest of the oiled neck.  It's a very high gloss on the front of the headstock and the back is still the lovely satiny smooth danish oil feel.  (As mentioned, I'll be sanding down the marks on the fretboard with some 600 grit and trying to get them as smooth/shiny as the headstock).  It feels very water/stainproof on the front now which was the main goal.  The rolled edges of the fretboard picked up a tiny bit of edge from where the finish met the tape, which is pretty easy to knock back with some 400 grit sandpaper.  Once the fretboard is done I'll sand any drips off the neck/back of headstock with some high grit sandpaper, probably apply another coat of Danish oil and call it finished.

This is turning out exactly as I had hoped.  Although it's kinda a pain in the ass and time suck for finishing, it's going to feel awesome to play and won't get all dirty like my Charvel fretboard.

 

[Cagey]

Wipe on poly is a lot more finnicky to use than Danish oil and requires a very different method of application.

What little experience I have with gloss wipe-on poly was along those lines, too (I used Behlen's "Master Gel"). There seems to be a thin line between too little/too much material, and how much time you have to work it. Unlike the various "oils", stains, etc. you don't just wet the applicator and apply. It seems you have to sorta gauge how much material you get on the applicator so you can get a full "swipe" without it getting too thin toward the end of the wipe, but not so much that it's saggy or runny at the start. Also, once again, surface prep is everything. If there are any defects or anomalies, even just small ones, there seems to be more of a tendency to create a bubble that's going to be tough to get rid of. 

 

[guitarstv]

Yeah, there's very little margin for error with the poly.  You get it right the first or second swipe, or you wait until it's done, sand it back down, and try again the next day.  I used several test 2x4s to practice on, and still managed to screw it up on the fretboard. 

Sanding down and reapplying on the fretboard last night went much better.  There's a small uneven spot between the 7th and 8th frets, and one between the 13th and 14th frets but the rest looks to be in pretty good shape.  I also managed to get a small drip on the back of the headstock somehow (???) so will have to sand that off tonight too.

I am definitely learning that you don't want to be in a hurry finishing a guitar.

Does anyone have tips for doing a final polish of polyurethane?  Can I just use some car polish?

 

[Rick]

Before the polishing I use meguiars scratch x or similar product.  Gets rid of all those little microscopic swirls.  Plus it comes wet glossy.

 

[guitarstv]

I've got the fretboard and headstock looking very wet/glossy right now and mostly bubble free.  I am actually debating if I should take the shine down a little with some 0000 steel wool . . . it's so slick/smooth that I'm worried it might end up grabbing my fingertips when bending.  Easy sliding hands around is the whole reason I did the oil finish on the back of the neck.