jac68984 wrote:
I've done two necks with Truoil and really like the feel and look. That's not a ton of experience, but I'll share what I know or think I know. One neck was Mahogany, the other was Black Walnut. The biggest tip I can give IMO, is to judiciously sand the neck to a very fine grit before applying finish. The finish goes on very thin, and minor imperfection in the wood show. I sand to 600 generally (I may have used 800 grit on the black walnut). Just make sure it is smooth as a baby's butt. With a nice smooth wood surface, you will start to see an excellent finish develop in about 3 coats (well, it looks pretty darn good after 1, but much better after 3). I don't put many coats on. I think the last one, I put maybe 6 or 7 coats on. Thin coats are key. I wipe a bit on with a lint free cotton rag, and wipe off with a second fresh lint free rag quickly thereafter. Throw away both rags after each coat. I have also used coffee filters to wipe off the finish, and that works well also with no chance to leave lint of loose fabric on the finish. I normally only do two coats per day (one before work and one in the evening), but with very thin coats you could probably get away with doing three or so a day.
I did not pore fill either neck. I think it would take away some of the nice feel. But on the last one, I did Zpoxy the front of the headstock, applied more coatings of Truoil (can't say I remember how many exactly but somewhere around 15 would be my guess), and buffed to a gloss. Truoil will buff out, but give it plenty of time to cure before trying to do so. I liked the result. The gloss isn't the same as the body, which I had done in EM6000, but I doubt many would ever know the difference. You may also see tiny witness lines if you try to level much, but those seem to go away with buffing. You could easily just pore fill and shoot the top of the headstock with KTM to get the same look there as on the body. Just mask appropriately.
One last tip, if you leave the pores open in the neck, be careful not to fill them with unwanted material. Use synthetic steel wool substitutes to scuff/level the Truoil (shouldn't need to do this too much, but sometimes you will get dust nibs or such that you should LIGHTLY hit before applying another coat). Steel wool can find its way into pores. Also, be careful with buffing compound when buffing the body if the neck is joined. I got some white compound on the walnut neck while touching up the finish on the body and had to sand and refinish the affected area (though with Truoil, this wasn't too large a task). Some members said they tint light colored compounds black (or darker at least) so that if some does find its way into pores it is less noticeable. Seems like good advice.
Good luck.
Aaron Craig
i second the use of TruOil. Looks great on mahogany. Tends to yellow maple a bit, but its a nice look.
Very smooth, durable, and easy to repair. it really does expose imperfections though. if there is a slight depth ireegularity, say where an area goes a little flat compared to the rest of the curve, it'll show up slightly darker.
anyway, i like using tru oil on my necks.
b
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