Most transparent oil for neck?

[DC in ATX]

Is Osmo the best transparent oil option?

I know that a water-based poly will provide the most transparent finish. But if I am too stubborn to do poly:

What's the most transparent finish option that provides decent protection for a roasted maple neck?

Thanks.

 

[rudy4444]

Osmo PolyX clear oil will darken your wood slightly, but it's not going to be an issue on roasted maple. I think it's a great neck finish, providing the best under-hand feel of anything I know of.

It's not as protective as what you may need, and Minwax satin wipe on poly is super easy and provides a fair amount of protection for use on the body. I'm not sure what being stubborn has to do with it. It's about the simplest thing you can use as a finish option that offers a bit of protection.

 

[DC in ATX]

Osmo PolyX clear oil will darken your wood slightly, but it's not going to be an issue on roasted maple. I think it's a great neck finish, providing the best under-hand feel of anything I know of.

It's not as protective as what you may need, and Minwax satin wipe on poly is super easy and provides a fair amount of protection for use on the body. I'm not sure what being stubborn has to do with it. It's about the simplest thing you can use as a finish option that offers a bit of protection.

Body is already finished.

I did an old-school French polish from shellac flakes, rather than nitro or wipe-on poly. So, I kinda want the neck finish to be more in keeping with the that low-tech body finish.

Osmo looks and sounds promising. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[rudy4444]

The body looks great.

When I use wipe on poly I make up a fresh "fad" for each application, so it's a bit like french polishing. I drool too much to use shellac!

You can see my use of Osmo Polyx clear demonstrated for both neck and body of the short scale P bass build here, starting with post #73:

Building A Short Scale P Bass

There's quite a bit of information about types of Osmo finishes from myself and other contributors to the topic starting around the post #101 mark.

On the bass that I completed in the cited build topic I hedged my bets on the hanging balance point and made the body with a longer-than-necessary upper horn. It turned out the additional length wasn't needed, so I chopped off the extra length, sanded, and touched up with the Osmo PolyX oil. It really points out how ridiculously easy any later touch ups are.

 

[DC in ATX]

The body looks great.

When I use wipe on poly I make up a fresh "fad" for each application, so it's a bit like french polishing. I drool too much to use shellac!

You can see my use of Osmo Polyx clear demonstrated for both neck and body of the short scale P bass build here, starting with post #73:

Building A Short Scale P Bass

Have you applied wipe-on poly to the fretted fretboard?

This is one area where I am seeing conflicting information.

The Osmo satin finish looks great on that short-scale bass.

Any finish is going to darken this neck neck. But if I can keep the neck finish relatively “flat,” that will provide some contrast with the body.

FWIW, reports that shellac mixed from flake isn’t water resistant are more myth than reality. Body sweat or drool isn’t going to damage a quality shellac finish—as long as you aren’t sweating or drooling Everclear.

I tested out a shellac finish on an Ibanez. If I didn’t tell you it was shellac, you wouldn’t suspect it was anything other that a quality factory finish:

 

[rudy4444]

Have you applied wipe-on poly to the fretted fretboard?

This is one area where I am seeing conflicting information.

The Osmo satin finish looks great on that short-scale bass.

Any finish is going to darken this neck neck. But if I can keep the neck finish relatively “flat,” that will provide some contrast with the body.

FWIW, reports that shellac mixed from flake isn’t water resistant are more myth than reality. Body sweat or drool isn’t going to damage a quality shellac finish—as long as you aren’t sweating or drooling Everclear.

I tested out a shellac finish on an Ibanez. If I didn’t tell you it was shellac, you wouldn’t suspect it was anything other that a quality factory finish:

View attachment 4358317
View attachment 4358320

I have used Osmo PolyX on a fretted board but I have not used wipe on poly. I've avoided using any finish on a fret board that has any chance of flaking off. I'm not a fan of the finished necks that end up having bare patches between the frets after years of play, particularly lighter woods that end up just looking nasty.

I stay with darker woods for fret boards.

 

[DC in ATX]

I have used Osmo PolyX on a fretted board but I have not used wipe on poly. I've avoided using any finish on a fret board that has any chance of flaking off. I'm not a fan of the finished necks that end up having bare patches between the frets after years of play, particularly lighter woods that end up just looking nasty.

I stay with darker woods for fret boards.

That all makes sense. That's another reason I am leaning Osmo (or similar) here vs. nitro or poly.

One of the artificial constraints with this build is to use only North American wood species. Hence the all-roasted maple neck. Otherwise, 9 out of 10 of my basses and guitars have rosewood, ebony or other dark boards. (The Ibanez board is Jatoba.)

 

[Arie X]

ime, minwax w.o.p. has a slight blueish "haze"? to it. kinda noticeable imo but otherwise it's literately the worlds easiest finish to use.

question: what oil are you using to lube your munecas?

 

[rudy4444]

ime, minwax w.o.p. has a slight blueish "haze"? to it. kinda noticeable imo but otherwise it's literately the worlds easiest finish to use.

question: what oil are you using to lube your munecas?

There are two formulations of the Minwax wipe on poly, one being water-based. In all my posts I specify NOT to use the water-based finish. The regular formulation does not exibit the blueish tint.

 

[Beej]

That all makes sense. That's another reason I am leaning Osmo (or similar) here vs. nitro or poly.

One of the artificial constraints with this build is to use only North American wood species. Hence the all-roasted maple neck. Otherwise, 9 out of 10 of my basses and guitars have rosewood, ebony or other dark boards. (The Ibanez board is Jatoba.)

I have a thing about using NA or domestic (to me) woods and have tried to limit myself to them for a few years. I still cheat and use some exotics, but if it's for me, I try to use domestics only. The dark fretboard (which I love) is the hardest achievement as we have so few dark woods up here. I've used katalox, but it's a bit of a stretch to call it "domestic" for me in the PNW. I've used walnut lots too, but it's not a particularly hard or stiff wood, so other stiffening is important to consider in those builds, and it's also dark but really vary in colour. Used with other light coloured woods, the contrast shows up nicely and it stands out, but I want things dark.

I made major headway a while when I experimented with roasting woods in my own kitchen oven. Yes, it sounds crazy, and no, it's not quite the same as "torrefaction" in a controlled atmosphere with a specialized oven. It's more like a controlled burn. I did it only for the colour change, which IMHO is spectacular on walnut. I've done several other woods, but I also right now have some osage orange, hickory and mesquite, all of which I plan to burn in my oven in the same way to see what comes of them. Here are a handful of home-oven-roasted walnut boards - happy to go into detail as to the process if you're interested.

final pics

• Beej
• Apr 19, 2021
• cherry driftwood maple walnut

final pics

Fugitive 5 Bleached Maple Final Pics

• Beej
• Feb 23, 2021
• maple bass

Fugitive 5 Bleached Maple Final Pics

Different angle showing the chatoyance.

Fretboard

• Beej
• Feb 22, 2021
• walnut fretboard

Fretboard actionola

 

[rudy4444]

That all makes sense. That's another reason I am leaning Osmo (or similar) here vs. nitro or poly.

One of the artificial constraints with this build is to use only North American wood species. Hence the all-roasted maple neck. Otherwise, 9 out of 10 of my basses and guitars have rosewood, ebony or other dark boards. (The Ibanez board is Jatoba.)

Nothing artificial at all about your constraints for whatever reason you choose.

I've built instruments with that same "constraint" and used walnut for the fret board in a few instruments. Many think that walnut isn't hard enough for a fret board, but walnut varies considerably among the exact type and even individual boards. If it's reasonably hard to begin with it can make an excellent fret board. I've even used it for a fretless bass, but top coated with CA to toughen it up a bit more.

One of my friends obtained several of the torrified purpleheart fret board blanks from LMI and it looks like a great alternative wood. At least it's supposed to have less of an impact as far as harvesting goes. I am a proponent of using our U.S. sourced woods if possible.

 

[Arie X]

There are two formulations of the Minwax wipe on poly, one being water-based. In all my posts I specify NOT to use the water-based finish. The regular formulation does not exibit the blueish tint.

yeah, you're right. i was referring to waterbased.

 

[DC in ATX]

ime, minwax w.o.p. has a slight blueish "haze"? to it. kinda noticeable imo but otherwise it's literately the worlds easiest finish to use.

question: what oil are you using to lube your munecas?

Mineral oil.

I have studied some posts and videos about using a hardening oil, basically to introduce more protection into the finish. The additional protection sounds great. But touch up and repair over time sounds more difficult.

 

[DC in ATX]

There are two formulations of the Minwax wipe on poly, one being water-based. In all my posts I specify NOT to use the water-based finish. The regular formulation does not exibit the blueish tint.

Good to know. I didn't realize that there were two different formulations.

 

[DC in ATX]

It's more like a controlled burn.

That made me laugh. Thanks for that.

I appreciate your responses and have studied some of your builds on background. Cool to hear more about the ideas behind those builds.

 

[Arie X]

Mineral oil.

I have studied some posts and videos about using a hardening oil, basically to introduce more protection into the finish. The additional protection sounds great. But touch up and repair over time sounds more difficult.

cool, that's what I use for FP. traditionally it's supposed to be olive oil, but I don't want my guitars to smell like a salad.

i tend to prefer mineral oil USP from the store without the lavander scent. ancient texts cite using resins/gums for hardening: copal, sandarac, arabic, etc.. but i can't say i've tried any just yet. i gave my wife the arabic to use with her paints. i suspect though that any concentrated effort with alcohol or like spirits would bite into the finish allowing for repair.

fwiw, i've done extensive experimenting with epifanes marine varnish converting it to a wipe on version with shocking hardness and vastly increased cure speed. with it's oil base, the penetration and depth really give figured woods a new dimension unlike any other (imho). it's a simple 1-1-1 mixture and will cost about $100 for a pint or so.

 

[rudy4444]

A note about the "hard" oils... I really wanted not to like these. Nothing that easy could be good, right?

There are several brands of these hard oils, most from older European companies that have been selling them for decades as finish for flooring. They work differently than either penetrating oils or finishes designed to build on the surface. They bond with the cellular walls of the wood surface and also penetrate to a small extent which binds them to the wood.

Brands such as Rubio Monocoat go so far as to state that it is impossible to add anything other than the single coat that bonds to the wood.

As far as touch up or repair goes, you simply sand back to bare wood and re-coat. The hard oil will bond to bare wood and will wipe away cleanly from any previously finished surface, rendering an impossible to detect touch up. Check the upper horn refinish in post #4. It took about 5 minutes to sand and apply the new coat of Osmo and wipe off the excess. No "witness lines", just a perfectly matched finish.

Instrument makers have been trying forever to come up with a "speed neck finish" that seals, offers some protection, and has a superb under the hand feel with no grab or stickiness. This is it.

 

[DC in ATX]

Yeah, I dig Rubio Monocoat. I used it to lighten up some antique longleaf shiplap in our bedroom. The wall cladding has cotton white RMC on it:

 

[Beej]

fwiw, i've done extensive experimenting with epifanes marine varnish converting it to a wipe on version with shocking hardness and vastly increased cure speed. with it's oil base, the penetration and depth really give figured woods a new dimension unlike any other (imho). it's a simple 1-1-1 mixture and will cost about $100 for a pint or so.

Sold! That stuff is everywhere around me here in boat-owning-building-and-repairing land. What are the other two parts you mix with it?

 

[DC in ATX]

Sold! That stuff is everywhere around me here in boat-owning-building-and-repairing land. What are the other two parts you mix with it?

Mineral sprits is one of the three parts. That’s the thinner.

It looks like more Tung oil is the 3rd part.

It seems like a 2-part recipe would be pretty similar to a 3-recipe, given that this marine varnish is Tung Oil based.

It’s been such a long time that I had forgotten all about these marine products, but I used spar varnish to clear coat a Texas Cedar porch swing. It’s held up very well, even where it gets blasted by the sun.