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Does anyone have any suggestions for finishing bridges? For my previous 3 builds, I didn't do anything to finish the bridge other than sanding. I have a rosewood bridge that I intend to use on my latest build that is somewhat light in color and with pronounced grain. I like the grain, but it is kinda light. I wiped some naptha on it and it looked great. But of course when it dries, it looks like it did. Is stain the answer? I'm not sure what color... How can I make it look like it does with the naptha on it... darken it up?

Hi Steve,
The simplest way I know if is to take to to the buffing wheel! That will make it shine like its finished.
That said, I prefer a matte look to my bridges so I got thought the gamut of sanding papers 150, 220, 400, 600 and then 0000 steel wool and that does a pretty good job.

Hope this helps!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

But, what about darkening it?

Take some 100% pure boiled lindseed oil and coat the un polished bridge and allow it to dry out for three days. Do it again and allow a week to dry out, then take it to the buffer. This will give a deep wetted apearance sheen (wetted darker not staind darker)

Hi Steve,

Have you tried the lemon oil treatment? That may do it.

Try out any other ideas on a spare piece of wood before doing it to a bridge on your guitar. If the guitar is yours and you plan to keep it you might try shellac.

I make my own blond shellac - I can't remember the formula but it is very thin, not like the store bought stuff. In the past I have rubbed a coat of shellac onto wood to improve it's appearance - usually on toys. Again try it on a spare piece of wood. I prefer to make my shellac, but if you only want to try it once or twice, you may be able make the "store bought" shellac work - just mix it down with lots of denatured alcohol. Experiment until it does the job you want.

I would not do this on a guitar I made to sell because the buyer may use lemon oil on the bridge which may react with the shellac.

Mike Doolin was using Tung Oil at some point, perhaps he still is, to darken dark wood bridges.

I like micro-mesh pads which is just another way to buff out the bridge as Lance mentioned. If you take 20 minutes to go through all of the various pads, in the correct order...... , it really shines things up and the shine lasts as well. The micro-mesh pads are also awesome for chucking your wood, bone, or fossilized Mastiff poop bridge pins in a cordless drill and again going through all of the grits.

Here are some pics of the results that micro-mesh pads provide:

I really like the look of a well polished bridge and I agree, the micro-mesh pads are amazing.
Sometimes I'll finish it off on the buffing wheel but often it's fine after the last pad.
I've also used the micro-mesh sandpapers, go on up to 12000 if you want, it will produce
a fantastic finish. If you have a large wheel buffer, there are various color polishing
sticks that can produce a darker look if you desire.....

Best
Bruce

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Bruce Herrmann
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

The micromesh can give you a shine good enough to produce a reflection in cocobolo, ebony and some of the rosewoods. But the problem I have with doing this is it wears pretty fast and you get spots that are shiny and spots that are dull. To my eye, that looks pretty bad.

But they look great when they are first applied.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I agree with you Brock. I prefer a satin sheen from 600 or 800 grit paper.

Yes i agree 100%.

Steve: Have tried polymerized tung oil on a few. As others have said try it on scrap first and just use one or two coats. I prefer them unfinished and if there is a bit of lighy grain showing, I think it adds a bit of a different look from the traditional all black ebony. Also am not always in favor of ebony bridges ,but that's another story. Good luck.

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