Warmoth Unfinished Neck

[samcham]

I am about to begin spraying lacquer on a new Warmoth Angled Strat neck, Birdseye Maple with an Indian Rosewood fingerboard.  Their web site says, "All our necks are dipped in an oil based penetrating sealer..."  It feels nice and smooth, so I'm wondering how much sanding I need to do, if any, before I start spraying lacquer. 

What's everyone's experience with this?  How far do they take the sanding at the factory? 320? 400?

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Around 220.

 

[LanceM71]

Since the neck is already sealed, you don't need to sand. Just mask off the fretboard and spray the lacquer.

 

[samcham]

Thanks, all.  I did hear back from Warmoth, and they said they sand to 1,000 grit.  I think I'll hit it with a little 0000 steel wool, wipe it down with naptha, then start spraying.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

I did hear back from Warmoth, and they said they sand to 1,000 grit.

? - that is new info. I'm quiet certain that it is been stated by a w employee here that they sand their necks to around 220.

Also - 1000 would normally be to fine a grit before applying a finish.

And with my experience with more than 10 raw necks which I sand down almost like Cagey in this thread http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=19901.0 then the start out is very far from a 1000 grit feel.  :icon_scratch:

 

[samcham]

Here's what Warmoth said:

"We use 1000 grit sandpaper on our necks before they are ready for finish or complete to fulfill an order. You should not have to do any additional sanding but it may be an idea to run a piece of sandpaper over the neck briefly before applying a finish to ensure that the neck did not receive any “gunk” during transit."

:dontknow:

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Thanks for the info.

But I'm still a bit puzzled.

Perhaps they sand maple further down than the "raw" woods?  :dontknow:

 

[samcham]

Thanks for the info.

But I'm still a bit puzzled.

Perhaps they sand maple further down than the "raw" woods?  :dontknow:

Same puzzlement here.  To me, it feels smoother than 220, but I'm not a pro.

 

[Cagey]

I'm kinda surprised to hear a recommendation to go to 1000 grit before finishing, too. That's a pretty fine finish that I'd expect to have trouble with anything adhering to. Not quite, but kinda like painting glass. Nothing to bite into and grab. You need a surface with some tooth to it. You can sand that to a fare-thee-well after the fact, but there needs to be some cleats on the base.

 

[samcham]

I'm kinda surprised to hear a recommendation to go to 1000 grit before finishing, too. That's a pretty fine finish that I'd expect to have trouble with anything adhering to. Not quite, but kinda like painting glass. Nothing to bite into and grab. You need a surface with some tooth to it. You can sand that to a fare-thee-well after the fact, but there needs to be some cleats on the base.

So, maybe go back to 220, then 320 before spraying? Up to 600?

 

[Cagey]

320 is my favorite grit. I use it on raw bodies and between coats when I'm finishing. It's a bit slower than 220, but I find it's easier to control so I don't mind the time. Nothing like cutting though a coating to piss you off. Once the finish is built up to where I'm going to polish it off, then I'll go 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500 before getting into the rubbing compound and polish.

 

[Updown]

This is what I asked way back in may 2012 when building a custom build.
Then thought why people hadn't sanded there raw necks even smoother, like most do these days.

Asked ...
**could you please tell me what grade of sanding the raw necks are finished to ?

Reply on that was ...
**We sand everything to 220.

Maybe Warmoth sand further when they are doing the finish them selves, as they have better equipment  :dontknow:

 

[Cagey]

Maybe Warmoth sand further when they are doing the finish them selves, as they have better equipment  :dontknow:

They're set up to shoot catalyzed poly, which is a self-levelling finish. 220 is probably as good as they need to get. I used to shoot cars with it, and I mean to tell ya, it's a magical finish. You shoot it and it looks all orange-peely like spray finishes normally do, but you wait 5 minutes and it just levels out on its own until it looks like wet glass. Then it cures that way. I'm not kidding - it's like magic. You don't have to do jack to it after that. But, the stuff is toxic as hell and you need a good atmosphere to do it, which is tough to get.

 

[samcham]

It's very odd.  Maybe they changed something between 2012 and December 2013?

The neck feels silky smooth as it is, and part of me hates the idea of messing that up!  I may just rough it up a bit with some 400 before starting to spray lacquer.

 

[NovasScootYa]

It's very odd.  Maybe they changed something between 2012 and December 2013?

The neck feels silky smooth as it is, and part of me hates the idea of messing that up!  I may just rough it up a bit with some 400 before starting to spray lacquer.

To avoid messing up your neck apply a few coats of Nitro sand and seal primer with a couple of coats of clear or tint, etc. Providing the weather is right the primer adheres well to out of the box Warmoth maple no matter how it's sanded.
Instead of focusing too much in the beginning on paint assemble the entire instrument, tweak it and tweak it again until it plays and feels close to the era of Leo Fender.
For your new Warmoth neck with its vertical sides and bumpy fret ends you'll need to properly roll together and finish the fret ends and board edges from the first to around the 14th fret and cosmetically blend in the remaining frets so to retain as much board area as possible if vintage string spacing is to be used.  To avoid really messing up your new neck do not file level the frets. Frets are leveled initially by locating and seating high frets and though time as the need arises. Polish the frets with 4000 to 12,000 grit micro-mesh sheets, wrap it around a fret crowning tool.
After everything from A to Z is correct and the build feels right dismantle the instrument and paint it...not the other way around as seen way too often on this forum.
Unfortunately preparing a neck takes knowing the tricks and experience otherwise you'll mess it up.  I suggest studying Fender necks that play well and feel right and try to copy what makes 'em tick.