Official Luthiers Forum!

How fine do you sand your FBs & Bridges. The reason I ask... its so tempting to go up to 1000 or higher because the rosewoods (I'm using AB) look so fantastic until you touch it with fingernail or anything else & then every mark shows up. I have yet to put oil or anything else on a finished guitar FB or bridge.

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Mike McNerney

220 for me.

600 or 1500. Fingerboard gets oil, bridge gets shellac. Next day polish the bridge with micromesh rust/green/black and give it another coat of thin shellac to produce perfect gloss.

I go to 800 or higher and use 3 in 1 oil on both
I have also used wax. Prefer the oil

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I never heard of using 3 and 1, I might have to try that. I raise the grain with water at 220 then go 320/400/steel wool. Followed by Howard's wax.

Martin used 3 in 1 for years don't over oil

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Rub it in with a finger? Or do you use a cloth?

320

Pat

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Pat

80 to shape, 120 to remove scratch, 220 to remove scratches some more, and 400 to finish.

Anymore shine and I run it through a buffing wheel that shines it up REAL good.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Fretboards to 320. After I finish fretting I put on some Howards Feed and Wax.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I use gray Mirlon scuff pads after sanding to 600 grit - I believe it is P1500 grit which makes it about 800 grit. Any higher and you start seeing fingerprints and smudges which looks bad. Any lower than about 600 grit and you just don't see the grain very well. I use boiled linseed oil for protection. The nice thing about the gray Mirlon is that it can also be used for sanding the back plate as well. For me, sandpaper at higher grits tends to give an uneven looking surface with some parts looking more burnished than other spots. The Mirlon gives you a perfectly even and clean looking appearance. You can also use fine steel wool but I much prefer the Mirlon.

I sand to 220 then buff with 0000 steel wool. For the bridges, I’ve recently been using Robbie O’Brien’s luthier wax.