Wenge Baritone Neck Disappointment 😢

[Spud]

I always experiment with exotic woods before buying a neck or body. Bought a Wenge board from Rockler and it was definitely as you describe right from the store. I started sanding at 320, all the way up to 3000 with Super Assilex and Buflex and Man it is like glass. You can obviously still see the open grain, but not feel it. I like highly burnished necks with no finish, and this definitely doesn't need a finish. A little work and you will love it, it's for sure on my list for a future build.

View attachment 67652

Oh baloney ya don't either

 

[casper100]

Speaking of Wenge….

I just finished an end grain cutting board that’s mostly Wenge and white Wenge (which isn’t related to Wenge at all, just has a similar grain).
Also has maple, walnut, cherry, blood wood, tiger wood, Peruvian walnut and olive.

Basically I took all the leftover bits from other projects and glued them into a jumbled mess, lol.

 

[rockandroller]

"White Wenge" looks wicked cool - what species is that, actually?

 

[casper100]

"White Wenge" looks wicked cool - what species is that, actually?

Lati | The Wood Database (Hardwood)

www.wood-database.com

Very dense. Very heavy. Easy to work with and a great yellow color. I have plans to try to make a chambered guitar body out of it, if I can get the weight down enough.

 

[Hagwood]

Speaking of Wenge….

I just finished an end grain cutting board that’s mostly Wenge and white Wenge (which isn’t related to Wenge at all, just has a similar grain).
Also has maple, walnut, cherry, blood wood, tiger wood, Peruvian walnut and olive.

Basically I took all the leftover bits from other projects and glued them into a jumbled mess, lol.

Very cool piece ! I'm gonna have to check into that 'white wenge'........

(An African wood also known as lati or yaya)

 

[Meshuggener333]

I work with Wenge all the time. It’s notorious for that look and feel. Worse than that it can give terrible, tiny splinters that hurt way out of proportion to their size. In fact, before sanding, I always use latex gloves with Wenge. But it’s a beautiful wood and I still use it a lot. I think your neck is beautiful. I would just sand it and burnish it. Rubio will tell you not to sand higher than 240 but I’ve sanded as high as 600 and finished with Rubio and it will be fine.

Amazing Intel. Going to go the new tinted Rubio monocoat "dark roast" and will sand to 600 as you suggested. Aiming for slick feel. Cheers for your advice mate

 

[Meshuggener333]

I always experiment with exotic woods before buying a neck or body. Bought a Wenge board from Rockler and it was definitely as you describe right from the store. I started sanding at 320, all the way up to 3000 with Super Assilex and Buflex and Man it is like glass. You can obviously still see the open grain, but not feel it. I like highly burnished necks with no finish, and this definitely doesn't need a finish. A little work and you will love it, it's for sure on my list for a future build.

View attachment 67652

 

[casper100]

Amazing Intel. Going to go the new tinted Rubio monocoat "dark roast" and will sand to 600 as you suggested. Aiming for slick feel. Cheers for your advice mate

I did a table top in that dark roast. It’s beautiful. It was a much lighter wood though. Come to think of it, that dark roast would be a great color for an ash body