Best Neck Satin Finish

[turnertj]

Hey all...

Any good ideas about the best satin finish for a neck? I'd love something similar to the Taylor type smooth satin finish. FP? Maybe Truoil? Is it crazy to use several layers of z-poxy and then just buff out to a satin finish?

Thanks!

Tj

[Ben-Had]

Tru-oil. I use it on all my necks now. Use the slurry method to pore fill, finish and sand to a satin finish.

[turnertj]

Cool...I may try that. Although I already pore filled with z-poxy. Will the tru oil work over z-poxy? I probably should have asked that before I z-poxied!

[Ben-Had]

Don't know I don't use Zpoxy, I use System 3 (close to the same I think) but I don't pore fill the neck with it when using Tru-oil. You could sand it back to bare wood leaving the pores filled. Maybe deadedith has used that combo and will chime in.

[Tim R]

I second the tru-oil recommendation. I used 0000 steel wool after the finish cured and just continued with it until I got the smooth feel I wanted. Can't imagine how to get a better result for playability.

[Ben-Had]

I second the tru-oil recommendation. I used 0000 steel wool after the finish cured and just continued with it until I got the smooth feel I wanted. Can't imagine how to get a better result for playability.

That's what I use, I said sand but I use the 0000 SW.

[turnertj]

How many coats of tru-oil do you guys wind up putting on?

I sanded back the z-poxy, but once you start using it it seems like you need to have at least a thin layer on the wood to keep the coloring even. SO I did a final coat of the z-poxy with 50% denatured alcohol. It went on thin, and I can buff it pretty dull before trying the tru-oil.

Thanks all!

Tj

[Ben-Had]

I wipe on about 8 coats with a crumpled coffee filter that I wrap inside another coffee filter and it wipe off the excess with - ta da - a third coffee filter.

[turnertj]

I just buffed out my last z-poxy coat...and it looks pretty good right now. Anyone ever been tempted to just leave the z-poxy buffed to a satin finish and not put anything else on? Is that a bad idea for some reason I'm not thinking of?

[B. Howard]

If you are spraying your finish with either lacquer or waterborne acrylics you can just add some flatenning paste to your coating prior to finishing the neck. This would allow you to dial in the sheen anywhere you want it, as low as 15 degrees, and allow you to use the same finish materials on the entire guitar.