Link/advice for "french polishing"/smooth sanding

[allforroy]

Can anyone help with this? I need some expert advice on getting the super sanded/oiled feel for the neck...Thanks! *** A hearty thanks for the great advice! Cheers!***

[Oster]

Google 'Guitar ReRanch'

[Doc]

Do you want French Polish or oil? They are 2 different processes as I was taught.

For oil super finishes on maple necks it is easier than say mahog necks. If it is a tight grain wood like maple, wet sand WITH your oil of choice following the "set" time for the oil until you get to 2000. You are good to go. Add the layers you want. Oil tends to build very slow.

If it is a more open grain like mahog you can use the same process as the "dust" fills the grain.

If it is something like ash you will need a filler, then the same process.

If you are going to stain do so before the first oil coat. This has been great for me.

[Bob Rogers]

My favorite book on this is Bob Flexner's Understanding Wood Finishing.

French polish is a technique for building up a shellac finish with a rag. It is usually done on flat surfaces, but I think I remember that the old violin makers used it as well. The technique will not work with oil. It requires that thinner and solvent for the finish be the same thing. (True for shellac and laquer, not for varnishes.) I guess you could do laquer like this, but the solvent is so toxic I wouldn't want to.

I have not used shellac for finishing a guitar, but I'm thinking about doing a body in shellac. I'm not sure how it would hold up. Of course, the old spainish guitars (and old violins) were finished with shellac and they seem to do fine with flamenco players sweating buckets over them.

[Muttcaster]

I do some French polishing of shellac and have done it on top of already lacquered necks. It works better on fresh necks, but you can make it work on lacquer. Gives a really nice, smooth feel. It's a fairly complicated procedure- not something to quickly explain in an e-mail. Basically, though, you soak lacquer chips in grain alcohol (Everclear!) and then apply to neck using an old t-shirt or cheesecloth. Use a little bit of a drying oil (walnut) to the last couple swipes for a glistening finish. Rough up the lacquer before starting for good adhesion.

I've always wanted to do this to a "sticky" '52 Reissue neck. If anyone wants to be a guinea pig, let me know.

The nice thing about shellac (well, as long as you're not a Danny Gatton clone, .ie playing with a wet beer bottle) is that you can remove it with Everclear and elbow grease. So, if you mess up or don't like it, put alky on a clean rag and start scrubbing. The bad thing about it is that it's not very durable and you may very well have to touch it up every 5 years or so. I haven't had to, but you might, depending on your sweat and grittiness.

[mmahoney]

with 600 paper on the back of the neck and only enough to break the finish ... we'll see if it feels better when things get a little sweaty.

might try the same with the fingerboard.

mike