wenge top: oil or shellac or nothing?

[norumba]

as the other thread re my wenge/ash project doesnt seem to have much interest, let me rephrase the question, if i can:

Given that a lot of folks  really recommend leaving the wenge raw, ive decided to do that  and dry micromeshed it all the way up to 12000.  cell phone pic doesnt do it justice, but its very nice: somewhere in between a satin and a low gloss:

im nervous about letting it go just like that, though, and am thinking some kind of protection coat might be wise, to make it it pop a little better and give a little more protection.

Am thinking one coat of natural Watco Danish oil or one coat of clear dewaxed shellac. alternatively, could i use some wax  or  compound on the raw wood, and if so, what are  some  good recommendations?

the ash back didn't fare as well; it was looking ok, watco finish cured for about a month. Sanding out some irregularities  today and i think i sanded through  some (I don't think all) of the oil, as  i'm back to some stain unevenness.

the color difference isnt  as striking in reality --  just different lighting -- but it did lose a little hue.

before today's sanding:

after:  notice a little splotchiness and uneveness in the top right , particularly:

i can live with it -- it's my own guitar, and it's the back -- but  ideally , it would be nice to have as pleasing as possible.


Went ahead and micromeshed the back  too, though,  just to see, and it seems to taking the process ok  ( the back has stain preconditioner, stain, shellac sanded back as grain fill,  re-stain, watco).

I have the same  question for the  as above :  i could apply some watco again to even out the color, or just do a clear  ( or amber) shellac as a topcoat and go.

dont want to push the envelope or time frame, but if  i can get this  wired up the weekend, ill use it on a gig Saturday ( i can always work on it-- especcially the back -- after the gig as well).

I would *really* appreciate some input ... thanks guys!

 

[chrisg]

I have micromeshed Danish Oil & Tru-Oil finishes with not very good results.  After a lot of trial and error I now use 0000 steel wool and then wax. The Birchwood Casey wax is excellent though I have heard good reports about most high quality car waxes.  For a finish I prefer Danish Oil - it is easier to work therefore requiring less steel wooling.

Good luck with the finishing  :icon_thumright:

 

[norumba]

thanks Chris!  revisiting and bumping this thread, as im revisiting this project. any other further consensus on the final question:

oil vs.shellac on raw wenge top after its been micro meshed to 12000?

 

[lafromla1]

I put two coats of thinned down pure tung oil on my tele that has a wenge back and neck and it looks freaking awesome.

 

[norumba]

hadnt thought of  pure tung oil  but  if you only did two coats, that might be approachable....  what was  your thinning ratio (and what do you thin it with?) is it holding up OK?

 

[lafromla1]

4:1 Citrus Solventure Tung Oil

I just finished assembling it so I'll post up pics but here are some as I was progressing: http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=14619.0

I also have an all rosewood neck that I gave more coats (5 or 6) to and lessened the ratio until I had 1 last coat of only oil. It looks awesome as well.

 

[norumba]

Thanks  so much, everybody, for all  the help  on this project!  i learned a lot by reading here, learned even more by taking the plunge and doing it. For my first attempt  I can live with the results!

Quick recap: body is ash back, wenge front ; even though the body was chambered, it's still reasonably heavy, but in a good, robust , solid way.

Neck is quartersawn wenge as well, ebony fretboard with CA over the fingerboard:

I ended up doing the wenge with Watco Danish Oil after dry sanding to 600 then micromesh  to 12000.  I didnt  do the flood and soak approach: applied the Watco in thin to medium coats, wiped off thoroughly  with pretty good pressure after about 5 minutes. Checked periodically throughout the day for any seepage and  wiped down as needed. After the first  day, it didnt look like it did a damn thing, so i went a little heavier and soaked a little longer on day 2.  Repeated the process every 24 hours for about 5 or 6 days, adjusting coat and soak time according to look/seepage/touch. Havent done anything to it after that last coat except a gentle rub/clean-off with a microfiber cloth.

Could have done a few more coats but the light parts of the grain were getting too dark, so i called it quits after about 5 or 6 apps.

The back I've described in detail on other threads, but is basically Zinser's Amber shellac. Did not cut it!  Came out a lot  more orangey than i thought, and though the initial staining underneath is not the most even job in the world, its my own guitar, and its the back anyway. Did a final  dry sanding /evening out with micromesh, but havent done anything else. Thinking of  a proper buffing out or compound to give it some luster/gloss, but its a nice satin as it is.

takeaways and/or what i'd do next time: 1) I really liked the process of using shellac as a grain filler: dries quick,  and if youre new to shellac you can learn and experiment with your technique since you sand it all back anyway for that stage.  May mess with mixing my own shellac next time, as i think the orange is a little weird.

2) Based on what all I've read here regarding oils, seepage,  dry times, etc., I think micromeshing the top to the level i did really helped control seepage/absorption on such an open pored wood like wenge.

3) Watco did the trick for me this time, but i may try true Tung or BLO for the next one.

thanks again folks!