Should I finish it myself?

[NQbass7]

So I'm looking at doing a Warmoth project... I've wanted a Tele for a while, mostly for that bridge twang, and in looking around I think I've decided what I want, but I'm not sure about finishing it myself.  I know I'd like it better if I finished it myself AND did a good job, but I'm not sure I'm capable of achieving that second part given zero previous experience.  I don't have much workspace (a 1-car garage currently with a motorcycle in it), and I have approximately zero woodworking or finishing tools - I have a few basic tools, but no specialized stuff.

What I'm thinking I'd like is a Swamp Ash body in something like the Sunset Orange dye, and a maple neck with satin finish and Pau Ferro fingerboard.  I'm leaning towards buying them finished, just for the ease, at this point, but I'm open to trying new things under the right conditions.  How much work/supplies/time would be required to do either of those myself, and what are the chances of screwing things up irreparably?  Any other options besides having Warmoth do it or doing it myself?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Patrick]

for the neck all you need are old rags, a couple bottles of tru-oil, and hands.
not sure about the trans-orange though...you could look through the DIY finishing threads and get the general idea of what you need.

 

[tfarny]

Well the neck is pretty easy if you're just after a simple satin finish. But a swamp ash body with dye is not really all that easy to get a professional look, honestly it depends mostly on your patience and eye for detail more than technical knowledge or equipment. A dye and spray can nitro finish is probably the easiest and best approach if you have an outside place to spray, if not that then dye -> oil.
I'll be doing a swamp ash tele with dye & oil in the next few weeks, and there are lots of other detailed threads to read up on.

 

[RU36]

Dye is really easy to apply and you can buy clear coat in an spray can.
Sand paper and masking tape and a sanding block are pretty cheap too.

For the guitars that I have dyed:
I bought the dye and some small pieces of the same wood, in my case maple.
tested and documented my mixes on the scrap wood, until I found the perfect color.
Then i dyed the body and clear coated it with Deft clear gloss from home depot.
I let it cure for a week then sanded it smooth with 1200 grit followed by 2000 grit paper.
After that I polished it by hand.

It was pretty easy for the most part.
Now I am trying to do a sunburst and and have opted to buying a spray set up.

Its much more rewarding to do it yourself

 

[Keyser Soze]

As others have noted, finishing the neck is quite easy - multiple thin coats of tru-oil.  You can do that in the kitchen if need be.

The body is a little bit more involved.  Firstly, if you want a smooth surface to your final finish then you will need to grain fill the ash.  It's really not a hard procedure, but it is time consuming, and usually needs to be repeated two to three times in order to get a smooth surface.  Surface dyes tend to complicate this process a little bit, and usually it involves staining, then grain filling, followed by retouching areas where sanding has removed or thinned the stain.

Ash usually stains fairly well, but sometimes it does not - it can blotch and become uneven.  IIRC Warmoth does not use direct dyes on ash, and I've given up on it myself.

The other option is to use spray on toner, these are available from places like ReRanch, Stew-Mac, or Woodcraft stores (look for Mohawk/Behlen brand toners.)  Toner is the fancy term for a colored clear coat.  You'd prep the surface seal the wood, grain fill, then seal again (Bullseye shellac makes a good sealer for this) then spray on the toner until you have a nice even coloration - thinly for light coloration, more coats for a deeper color, then apply your topcoats of clear lacquer. 

The nice part is that it is almost foolproof.  Once the body is sealed with the shellac if you have a problem with the application of the toner you just wipe it off with a rag dampened with lacquer thinner, allow it to dry then try again.  Also, if three years down the road you decide you want a different color you can more easily strip the finish and re-do it.  If you use actual dye in the wood the only way to remove it is to sand down until it is gone.

 

[NQbass7]

I'm thinking based on this I'll probably finish the neck myself, and just order a finished body from Warmoth.  As fun as it would be to learn all that stuff and do it myself, I don't think I have the time/space/tools to do it right now.  Maybe a few years down the road I'll try a body on my own.  Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Cagey]

Finishing is a lot of work, takes some particular tools, and some experience/talent. That's why even the folks like Warmoth want $250 or more to do it, and they're set up for it and do it day after day so any possible economies of scale have already been applied. It's tempting to try and save that kind of money, but it's not the sort of thing you can do on a whim. Unless you're going to do it a lot, you're probably better off letting the pros do it. It'll cost you less in the long run, and you'll most likely get better results.

 

[RU36]

Finishing is a lot of work, takes some particular tools, and some experience/talent. That's why even the folks like Warmoth want $250 or more to do it, and they're set up for it and do it day after day so any possible economies of scale have already been applied. It's tempting to try and save that kind of money, but it's not the sort of thing you can do on a whim. Unless you're going to do it a lot, you're probably better off letting the pros do it. It'll cost you less in the long run, and you'll most likely get better results.

This is sound advice.
Don't be like me and just do it and say "Fu#k itI can learn as I go"
I have sanded down the shitty sunburst job on my new build 3 times and finally ordered a sprayer and an air brush which will ultimately cost me way more than if I had W do it. But I finaly got the hang of it, I learned something new AND I have everything I need to do it right on my next build.
My logic is far from logic though so just ignore everything I write and go with Cagey's advice. I am an acid casualty  :rock-on:

 

[-CB-]

Warmoth want $250 or more to do it......possible economies of scale have already been applied

No disrespect, since I'm a believer in making money, but... so have the profits been applied.

~~~~~~~

Finishing is time consuming, but rewarding.  You decide how you like things... and blame yourself if its not quite there. 

When you PAY someone to finish a guitar, you tell them "I want it to look like (whatever)".  The same should be true when you pay yourself to do the work.  Have an end in sight.  Then, develop a roadmap to get there.  Do what it takes to follow the steps, using the materials needed, and not cutting corners.  Then, you'll have a decent finish when you get to the end.  Starting out "winging" it, is a way to end up with a mess.

 

[Twelvebar]

It depends on what you want out of the experience. if all you care about is a nice paintjob, the buy it painted.

But if you are interested in learning how to paint, and gaining new skills, the paint it yourself.
If you're new to painting, then expect to do some research, so you have an idea what to do.
Then expect to do it, redo it, redo that, and redo it some more.

 

[RU36]

It depends on what you want out of the experience. if all you care about is a nice paintjob, the buy it painted.

But if you are interested in learning how to paint, and gaining new skills, the paint it yourself.
If you're new to painting, then expect to do some research, so you have an idea what to do.
Then expect to do it, redo it, redo that, and redo it some more.

+1

 

[NQbass7]

So I ended up buying a finished body from the showcase and an all Pau Ferro neck from the showcase as well, so no finishing to be done.  I realized afterward that I felt relieved at that, so it's probably better that I chose not to finish it myself.  Maybe next time, once I know I can do the assembly myself.

 

[M Daley]

Good choice. I'm about to re-do a bass that I previously stripped and refinished. While I'm glad I have the experience and am looking forward to getting it right the second time, I was stripping the old finish and applying the new and it was a lot of work, and it didn't turn out well. The price for having them do it right suddenly seemed like an investment rather than an expense, if you catch my drift.