Mahogany neck finish: Will Tung Oil be enough?

[hendrix2430]

Hi,

Based on your experiences, is Tung Oil enough to prevent a Mahogany neck from suffer from temp. changes etc...?

For your info, this is a fatback neck from Warmoth, 1" all accross the neck, so it's a real baseball bat. I already applied around 5-6 coats of tung oil. At first, I thought I would not have to hard finish such a fat neck (and so far, no problems), but reading through all the posts on the subject made me reconsider.

What should I do? Apply more coats of tung oil or?

Thanks for the help!

[hemlock]

Originally posted by hendrix2430
Hi,

Based on your experiences, is Tung Oil enough to prevent a Mahogany neck from suffer from temp. changes etc...?

For your info, this is a fatback neck from Warmoth, 1" all accross the neck, so it's a real baseball bat. I already applied around 5-6 coats of tung oil. At first, I thought I would not have to hard finish such a fat neck (and so far, no problems), but reading through all the posts on the subject made me reconsider.

What should I do? Apply more coats of tung oil or?

Thanks for the help!

More than likely, tung oil will be enough. If you have doubts, try Birchwood-Casey gunstock oil. It'll give you the same feel with better protection.

[hendrix2430]

thanks, Hemlock. :)

[Bonedance]

+1 o the birchwood casey tru-oil. Going on 4 years with my #1 tele neck ( and body ) and it's still top notch. I've done several other guitars and necks in tru-oil since then and they all turned out great for protection, look and feel.

[John Bell]

Tru-Oil or Wipe on poly will work great.I prefer the wipe on poly because it's easy to apply ,dries very flat and feels great wet sanded to a satin finish.

[hendrix2430]

Originally posted by John Bell
Tru-Oil or Wipe on poly will work great.I prefer the wipe on poly because it's easy to apply ,dries very flat and feels great wet sanded to a satin finish.

What is the consistence of the wipe on poly? Is it thick and gummy to apply, or nice and fluid like oil?

Also, how long is drying time?

thanks :)

[hemlock]

Originally posted by hendrix2430
What is the consistence of the wipe on poly? Is it thick and gummy to apply, or nice and fluid like oil?

Also, how long is drying time?

thanks :)

It's nice and thin/fluid. I've done a couple of necks with it and i always let them dry overnight. You can probably get by with less drying time, though.

It's a slightly different feel than the tru-oil. Just a small step farther away than the raw wood feel.

[hendrix2430]

Well, I just called the gunshop, and they do carry Birchwood casey stuff from time to time, unfortunately they don't have the gun stock oil in stock. What they do have it schaftol gun oil, which is supposed to be really good (according to the person I talked to):

www.schaftol.de

Has anyone tried this? I will give it a go and report back when I'm done.

[Norcal_GIT_r]

I've never used Tru Oil on mohagony, but i have used it on maple necks and it works great.
I couldn't imagine an easier finish to apply.

[Bonedance]

Originally posted by hendrix2430
Well, I just called the gunshop, and they do carry Birchwood casey stuff from time to time, unfortunately they don't have the gun stock oil in stock. What they do have it schaftol gun oil, which is supposed to be really good (according to the person I talked to):

www.schaftol.de

Has anyone tried this? I will give it a go and report back when I'm done.

I have not hear of that, but looks like it would do a stellar job! I'll look forward to your report!

[hendrix2430]

Yes, I'm looking forward to trying it! :)

I picked up a small bottle this afternoon, in transparent...they had several shades in stock but I'm thinking the transparent gunstock oil will deepen the reddish brown of the mahogany enough.

Any special instructions for applying gunstock oil? Or is it basically like tung oil?

Thank you GP! :)

[Bonedance]

The regular tru-oil turned my mahogany tele into a beautiful, rich color. Similar to Fenders, but not as brown...more reddish tine...which is what I wanted. As far as application, I used an old, soft, lint free tee shirt. After each coat dried, I would go over it with fine steel wool. Took a strong magnet after wipe down to make sure no steel wool fibers were left. Then, repeated the process. I think I put around 9-11 coats on mine. I did not steel wool the last coat, but you certainly can if you want a satin type finish.

I put together a fretless Carvin bass kit for a friend. Showed him how to do the tru-oil. He stopped at 3-4 coats as thats the look he wanted. Turned out great.

You can log on to the birchwood casey site and down load a little booklet that explains the best way top do a finish. I'm sure it would be the same for what you're using. You cna even apply it with your fingertips if wanted. Some do that and like it. I can't stand to feel of it on my hands!

Nice thing about tru oil, you can do the finish indoors with very little order.