Making a cigar box guitar with ChickenboneJohn. Part 13. Putting a finish on the neck.

Another fairly easy stage - I point out our way of doing it to achieve a good finish with simple methods and materials. Tru Oil is our favourite finish, because it is simple to apply and easy to get good results. Preparing the wood is vital to get a good finish, but we don't go to extremes of sanding to very high grits. The key to any finish is applying more thin coats rather then fewer thick coats. Don't rush the job and let each coat dry fully before putting on the next. Also it is important to build up the finish with multiple coats, and sand out any flaws or runs before the final coats. We use 0000 grade wire wool and paste wax to cut back the final coat and then manually buff to a satin sheen. A light application of our fretboard treatment will finish the job off nicely. This is only one way of doing it, but brushed finishes can be difficult to get really even. Sprayed finishes require you to mask off the fretboard, and we find them messy, wasteful of materials and quite expensive. To get a really good gloss finish with spray lacquer, it needs lots and lots of coats, plenty of rubbing down between coats and a lot of working the final finish with progressively finer abrasives and buffing compound. We prefer the tactile end result and low-tech aspect of a hand-rubbed oil finish, which is more in keeping with our overall approach.
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[@1stetson57]

I just want you to know that I tried the tru oil neck finish and then rubbing it down with wax and 0000 steel wool and then buffing the neck. After watching your video on this I tried it, and you are the MAN when it comes to a nice neck finish. Thank you for that tip. Clark in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho USA And this video is Great too.!!!!!!

[@ChickenboneJohn]

Good to know!

[@Heather22056]

That is the best neck ever 😎 And fret board!!

[@markballard9300]

Great tutorial. Thanks for your efforts in teaching this stuff!

[@6enj4m1n]

Hi John, your videos are great! However I seem to have reached the end. Are you planning on making any more? I have a lovely finished neck but now I'm not too sure about completion of my kit. Hope you are well

[@chickenbonejohn714]

We've just done episode 17, whjich takes this right through to the completed guitar.

[@AndiGitarre1]

👍

[@Owen741.]

Looking to buy one but seems everyones price is around 300 - 500 dollars. Do you still sell the kit that comes with everything but is unassembled?

[@chickenbonejohn714]

We do, but at the moment we are waiting for more timber to arrive, as we've had a real run on or kits.