Opinions on finishing/sealing a maple neck?

[bluestelecaster]

I went with a maple neck/maple fretboard on my first build and have read many how to's. It was out of my budget to have the neck finished by warmoth. Though, I do not want to fall into the possible 10% with a warped neck. If not for that I would just play it raw.

I prefer to keep it as close to natural color and do not care about ruining the warranty. I also want it to be as smooth and not covered heavily with anything.

I prefer going with a rub/wipe on method instead of a spray due to it seeming easy and fairly straight forward based on what I have read. My time is limited so a quick safe and tested method would be great. I am open to trying any thing.

What do you guys consider to be the easiest/quickest way to protect the neck?

 

[AutoBat]

Tru-oil.

 

[moobox]

It is my plan and I have the neck and I have the oil and a bunch of other stuff that I probably dont need because it seems to be heckish easy to do. But I have a maple plank which I cut up and am sanding just to get the process right anyway. So the actual neck can wait a week or so.

 

[fdesalvo]

Let us know if you need help - it's so easy to apply, but if you don't have the things you need at hand, you will find yourself stressed out when you begin the process.  I neglected to mention that I alternated coating applications on the front and back of the neck.

 

[jackthehack]

Tru-oil.

:icon_thumright: +1

 

[stubhead]

repeat the process maybe once every 6 months to a year.

Ummm... why? It's probably a good idea to lightly wet the neck - water - an see if any grain raises up. On body woods, this is essential, but Warmoth's necks already have been through a substantial smoothing process. Of course if you do wet it and sand back the slightly raised grain, it'll need to dry again for a day.

But then the process is the same - wipe some on, let it soak in, wipe some more on etc. Do really thin coats so it never has any drips. I spread 6 or 8 coats out over a few days. Then the hard part - wait a month. If you can still smell it, it's still kicking off... umm, whatever it is it's kicking off. After that, you maintain the finish with wax, either Birchwood Casey's own or really, any guitar/fingerboard/cutting board type wax will do. I bought a big jug of Howard Feed 'n' Wax years ago because Elderly Music slobbers it on 80-year-old Martins and sells them for $50,000, but... wood is wood.

 

[stubhead]

I prefer a T-shirt ball - just sort of crumple up enough t-shirt rag scraps inside a piece of t-shirt and tie a string around the ball's top, making sure there are no loose threads that will hang down when you're all slimy. Maybe ping pong ball size for a body, quarter-size for just the frets. The advantage is that you can pick up a bit of the finish inside the ball, and let it out with a squeeze. I make up like 8 or 10 of them before I even start.

The one tricky point is that it starts getting sticky FAST, so you really don't want to go back and try to blend it in = just one swipe over everything. So you really want to everything right there already, including one entire old beater T-shirt just in  case of a spill. I don't what you're planning on holding it with - it's customary to partially put in two neck screws and board attached as a handle - but it still needs to hang somewhere too. I made up a tripodozoid thing out of a Salvation Army $5 tripod.

There's a reshaped neck plate that can bolt to either the body or neck, and the whole thing can go into the closet away from my aerosol cathair bombs.

Think....

 

[moobox]

Well, I have three pieces of maple that I'm testing on. For the first, I applied with the fingers. But I wore latex glove becasue this stuff looks sticky hey. And on the first I scuff sand lightly with a colad fine pad. That is pretty much like the 3M stuff I guess.

Then on the second I also applied with the fingers but didnt scuff sand at all until about 5 coats in.

And for the third piece I applied with a coffee filter. I only started that one about two days ago and I leave for about 12 hours before scuff sanding or applying next coat. So, maybe the third needs some more time before it gets pulled into the judgin.

But anyway, the first piece of wood seems to be about the best so far. This was just a plank I went out and bought with no figure or anything and by about the thirs or fourth coat there seems to be some sort of figure rising out of the wood which is pretty darned attractive mind you. not very evident but it does look good.

So far it seems I'm inclined toward the first method. I'm looking at this neck I've got and I'mn wondering how the heck I'm going to hold it when I start working on it. Any ideas?

Cheers - Ed

 

[stubhead]

If you don't want to do the partially screwed-in mounting screws thing down at the base of the neck, there are some things you can whip up using the tuner holes. Like, poke the guts out of two BiC pens, insert them in the two furthest-apart tuner holes (for max leverage) and wire it up with the thickest coathanger wire you can find, or perhaps even drill a few holes in a scrap board that will match the gutless BiCs... and figure out where the board needs to go too. Whatever you do, just make sure it works correctly BEFORE you open up the can or bottle and try to deal with dripping brush/ringing phone/howling pets/doorbell/hairballs etc. Oh, yes, they will.... :evil4:

If I was doing anything near production-type work I'd wear plastic gloves but for the occasional one-off, they're more trouble than it's worth IMO.
A little hit of benzene and toluene once in a while just toughens you up. :redflag: 

 

[Cagey]

Just get a stick of wood slightly narrower than the neck, and screw through it to the neck. The neck's screw holes are sized for #8 woodscrews, and go into the neck about 5/8". You can get away with less for a holder stick, say 1/2" or 3/8", so add that to the thickness of your stick and you're there. You'll want a clearance hole in your holder stick, so figure about 3/16".

 

[fdesalvo]

That's the method I used for the first 2 or 3 coats.  It will be very tacky, so make sure your cloth is lint free.  You basically keep buffing it until it no longer feels gummy.  Post pics!

 

[moobox]

Well I started on the neck. And overall I think it is going OK. Got about 4-5 coats of tru-oil on. I just decided to go with the fingers and it seems OK, a bit of haphtha gets the stuff off quite easily. So, I'm doing one coat a day and not buffing or anything. there are two little spots where there seems to have been a little run, like a congealed little drop just hanging there. And then there also seems to be a bit of build up at the frets. I'm hoping that this can all be sorted out when enough coats are on. If not, somebody shout loud kweek please.

I cant take pics now because it's nighttime and my camera skills aint that hot. Later.

Cheers - Ed

 

[moobox]

BTW anybody know much about the Hirchwood Casey Sealer/Filler product?

 

[bagman67]

BTW anybody know much about the Hirchwood Casey Sealer/Filler product?

All I know is California environmental regs prevent its sale here.

 

[Cagey]

I just got some diamond and ceramic files from a large-ish woodworking supply company that includes a disclaimer on the packing slip that says:  "Each and every product sold by Highland Woodworking may contain chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm."

Somebody's a little sassy/bitter/sarcastic, eh? <grin>

 

[Tipperman]

I just got some diamond and ceramic files from a large-ish woodworking supply company that includes a disclaimer on the packing slip that says:  "Each and every product sold by Highland Woodworking may contain chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm."

Somebody's a little sassy/bitter/sarcastic, eh? <grin>

But then again, everything causes cances, birth defects, or other reproductive harm in California.

 

[Rickgrxbass]

I just got some diamond and ceramic files from a large-ish woodworking supply company that includes a disclaimer on the packing slip that says:  "Each and every product sold by Highland Woodworking may contain chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm."

Somebody's a little sassy/bitter/sarcastic, eh? <grin>

But then again, everything causes cances, birth defects, or other reproductive harm in California.

It's like they know something they're not telling the rest of the country

 

[Tipperman]

I just got some diamond and ceramic files from a large-ish woodworking supply company that includes a disclaimer on the packing slip that says:  "Each and every product sold by Highland Woodworking may contain chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm."

Somebody's a little sassy/bitter/sarcastic, eh? <grin>

But then again, everything causes cances, birth defects, or other reproductive harm in California.

It's like they know something they're not telling the rest of the country

And lo, a conspiracy was born! California is keeping all the knowledge for themselves so that when they break off from the US they will be a greater nation!  :blob7:

 

[bagman67]

Greater than WHAT, though?  And how hard would it be to become that (he wondered rhetorically)?

 

[Tipperman]

Greater than WHAT, though?  And how hard would it be to become that (he wondered rhetorically)?

Greater than.... greatness itself! It was easy for California to become the worlds greatest nation, with their secret knowledge of harmful chemicals and The Terminator being on their side.  :laughing7: Conspiracies are silly.