Finishing one-piece mahogany neck

I'm getting ready to finish my first neck with wipe-on varnish; all of the instructions I've read indicate that I should mask the fingerboard with tape to avoid getting the varnish on it.

If that's the way to do it, fine -- but what do I finish the fingerboard with? It seems like the varnish should be fine for the fingerboard too, since it's a one piece neck... can't I just mask the frets and do it all at once?

You're going to want finish on a mahogany fingerboard. IMO you don't actually want a mahogany fingerboard, but since you have one put a finish on it, preferably a hard one.

Ya - if the frets are glued in after pressing/hammering and if the frets are really big ones - a Mahogany fretboard should work fine. The main thing is - will the strings ever touch the wood - if the answer is no - then any finish that will seal will work for the fretboard IMO.

A picture would really help here.

The other thing is grain filling - I'm not sure how much grain filling you wanted to do, but varnish may take some interesting technique to grain fill with it. There's a million ways to do grain filling.

Oil finishes like Antique Oil Finish and Tru Oil patch pretty well, my guess is that if you did a fretboard with them it would wear really fast, but would be pretty easy to patch if it was done as soon as the finish started getting thin. Perhaps not ideal, but it could work. I bet this works fine for the folks out there that have done their whole necks with Tru Oil on Maple - there have been quite a few of those - but Maple is pretty easy on finishes because the wood is pretty hard.

Pure opinion: Putting a hard finish on the fretboard and a varnish on the back would kind of be a pain, but that could be done. The problem may be that you would get a staining effect from the varnish, so you would likely want to go with something like shellac over the varnish on the fretboard - I'm not sure if lacquer would do well over varnish - if you wanted a harder finish on the fretboard.

Got it. Mahogany fretboard's not ideal, but it's what I've got, so...

I picked up a can I grain filler, which I'll use on the whole neck. Wipe-on varnish for the back and peghead, and will consider a harder finish on the fretboard. Can I apply the wipe-on varnish to the whole neck and then shellac to the fretboard afterward?

I hadn't realized that mahogany would present different finishing considerations - live and learn, I guess. I was going to finish the whole thing with Tung oil/Tru oil as I'd seen elsewhere here with one-piece maple necks. Will the softer mahogany just wear more quickly and start to scallop between the frets with a Tung oil finish and heavy play?

Here's a photo, as requested. It's from before I started shaping.

Thanks for the input, gentlemen! Much appreciated.

how many of us have actual experience with a mahogany fretboard? ... ok, probably it will wear out quicker than maple, RW, ebony etc... but if you don't play it hours a day for years, I guess it'll do just fine

I wonder if using CA as a sealer (better before the fret install) would harden the wood to any depth? I have seen some great looking turnings (bowls & pens) where the sealer was medium viscosity CA glue, wiped on, let stand for 5 minutes, and wipe excess off, and sand lightly. Then finish normally. Any ideas or comments?

I would grain fill the headstock, sides, and back of the neck, but leave not the fretboard. Then I would apply a spray on lacquer finish or a wipe on finish like Tru Oil. Wetsand and buff the neck, but just steel wool the fretboard.

I would grain fill the headstock, sides, and back of the neck, but leave not the fretboard. Then I would apply a spray on lacquer finish or a wipe on finish like Tru Oil. Wetsand and buff the neck, but just steel wool the fretboard.

Ok - thanks for all the input; going to get started on this tomorrow.

Colt - so you suggest applying grain filler to all surfaces on the neck except the fingerboard, and then a spray on or wipe on finish for the whole thing? Why no grain filler on the fretboard, just out of curiosity?

Looks like I'm going with a wipe-on varnish for the whole neck, then wax the back and peghead.

I'm on the fence about an additional hardening finish for the fretboard. I like the idea of CA as a grain filler, but missed the boat for that I think... Although I guess I could mask the frets and work some in on top of the first couple coats of varnish.

Maybe I'll only be able to play soft rock on it...

So here's where I'm at, for the record:

Grain filled the back of the neck and headstock, then used a wipe-on varnish (tung oil) for the whole shebang. Fine sanding/steel wool in between applications (after each application had dried).

After 6+ coats (hard to count when there's varnish in your socks) I wet sanded the back and peghead with 600 grit, then gave it a go-over with polishing compound. Buffed it off, and man that sapele is glowing!


Based on the way it feels now, I don't anticipate I'll have much of an issue with the softness of the mahogany fretboard (I just won't play it enough to wear it out). However, if it becomes a problem, here's what I'm going to do (and what I would have done in the first place if I would have come across this bit of info before I got the frets hammered in):

Grain fill with CA on the fretboard, as mgdesigns talks about above. Actually, not just grain fill with it, but finish the fretboard with the stuff. Done deal.

Meantime, thank y'all gentlemen for youse's input. I'm mighty close to having a playable neck in my hands that I made from scratch, and as it's my first one, I'm fairly excited about it.