Official Luthiers Forum!

Although I am following the Stewmac manual to the letter, I still like asking questions...

I am planning to use RussellR's finishing schedule using Danish Oil, on the neck as well as the body.

Masking over the fretboard, is it possible for me to finish the guitar with the neck attached? It seems much more convenient than having to scrape off the finish where the fretboard extension would be glued...

Hi Sam,
Sure you can do that but I feel it complicates leveling etc. Why not just mask off the area where the extension will later be glued.

won't tapping in the remainder of the frets on the extension won't warp it then whilst unattached to the body?

while you will find many who disagree with me, i feel that fretting is best done after the neck and body are joined.crazymanmichael38947.345787037

I think there are two different issues being discussed here; finishing and fretting.

I have no experience with Danish oil as a guitar finish, but as a general rule finishing with the neck off is much easier than the opposite. Leveling and polishing inside corners (like between the sides and heel) is tedious and difficult, much more so than removing finish on the top for the fretboard which takes only minutes.

You can tap or press the frets in on a fingerboard before it is glued to the neck, after the fingerboard is glued on the neck but before it is attached to the body, or after the neck and body are assembled. The last method (which is what crazymanmichael is advocating) is what is normally done in a refret and probably is safest in regards to avoiding the dreaded "14th fret hump" and getting a nice, level fingerboard. However, some people (like me) get really nervous with sharp frets, hammers and pliers around a new soft finish, and resort to method 2. To fret the unsupported fingerboard at the end of the neck, just make a caul that fits around the heel tenon (if you have one) and is higher than the heel and is as big as this part of the fingerboard and hammer or press away.
Arnt38947.4282523148

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Arnt, thankyou. I guess we females deliberate too much before actually doing (hence the high volume of questions I am asking ), you guys just seem to "get on with it"

Should I leave the final tapping in of the frets literally before I attach the neck, or can I do it now? I guess I won't be attaching the neck for a while due to finishing with D/Oil...

Sam, I don't know anything about RusselR's finishing schedule. However, if you are using an oil finish (including Danish oil), I think you will be fine attaching the neck before finishing.

If you are using a building finish, whether lacquer, KTM-9, french polish, or whatever, then it's best to attach the neck after because otherwise it's a hassle to level and buff the body around the heel and fingerboard.

However, with a Danish Oil finish, you aren't trying to build the finish. Most of the Danish Oil will be absorbed by the wood, and the rest gets wiped off. So you won't have any significant amount of finish to level.

But then again, maybe I misunderstand what you are trying to do.

Hey Sam, it isn't just a female thing to deliberate rather than jump in. I for one could build much faster if I would just get on with it rather than debating all of the pros and cons of each option. For myself, I just have to push myself to pick a way, do it, see if it works and at the very least make a mental note (written is better ) of how well it worked. If it didn't work, well, next time I'll know better. Definately not a gender characteristic, IMHO.

Good luck and let us know how the Danish oil works for you.

Donovan

[QUOTE=Sam Price] Arnt, thankyou. I guess we females deliberate too much before actually doing (hence the high volume of questions I am asking ), you guys just seem to "get on with it"
[/QUOTE]

"...and if all else fails, read the the instructions" is my motto according to my wife .

[QUOTE=Sam Price]
Should I leave the final tapping in of the frets literally before I attach the neck, or can I do it now? I guess I won't be attaching the neck for a while due to finishing with D/Oil...
[/QUOTE]

Like I said, people like to tap the frets in at different stages, and for different reasons. I think there is a nice tutorial with pictures here on the OLF by Tim McKnight (?) where he shows how he frets a fingerboard after the neck is attached. Check that out and see what you think. I get nice results by pressing the frets in with the fingerboard attached to the neck but before it is attached to the body, so that's my preference. I've only fretted mandolin boards before attaching them to the neck, but there is no reason why you can't do the same on a guitar.

Not much help, am I?

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I do not final level the fretboard, fret or mount the neck till the body and neck are finished, leveled and buffed. When the neck does get installed and the FB extension glued down I final level the FB, fret and if needed level the frets. I feel this insures a better FB to bridge relationship and eliminates the possibility of the 14th fret hump. This does mean that I have to be very careful with the finish while leveling the FB, dressing the fret ends and such, but that is not a big issue. IMO if you finish with the neck on it is hard to keep from getting finish build up at the intersections of surfaces like the top/FB extension, heel/side and such.MichaelP38947.6542361111

[QUOTE=terken]
Michael, if you are fetting an unbound fretboard after finishing how do you
get around dinging up the finished edges when filing flush?
Terry
[/QUOTE]

I have a thin neoprene pad that fits around the fretboard extension in the shape of the guitars upper bout it is lightly taped in place during any work on the frets.

[QUOTE=Sam Price] won't tapping in the remainder of the frets on the extension won't warp it then whilst unattached to the body?[/QUOTE]

I completely fret and level my fretboards before they go on the body. I use a support block under the extension as others have mentioned. One trick to doing this is to not use fretwire with the full width tang for the extension frets. If it is full sized tang it will "compression fret" the extension and want to bend it down. There are various cute little jigs used for stripping off part of the tang, see StewMac for one I believe, I just made my own with some pieces of file and feeler gauges between. You do want to use some glue for those frets though, either just some tightbond in the slot or wick in some CA after.

No help on the finish, I do nitro. I'm thinking of trying FP or TruOil on a mando though.

Alan D.
dunwell38947.6504513889