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Rough Sanded/Re-Radiused my freboard... What Now? (fretless conversion content)

ElectraPhoenix

ElectraPhoenix

Jan 10, 2010
407
4
Houston, TX
#1
Ok. So, I'm in the middle of a fretless conversion. I've been re-radiusing the board using a 12" radius sanding block and 60 grit sandpaper. I'm almost done, and am close to having a consistent 12" radius throughout the board. My question...

What's next? Obviously, using 60 grit, the board is really scratched up (it's maple, BTW). What grits of sandpaper do I use for fine sanding, and how much fine sanding do I do (how high a grit should I use) before I finish the board?

Also... I'm using Tru-Oil to finish the board (I'm using flatwounds on this so I don't need a super hard epoxy-type finish anyways). What's the best way to go about applying it? I know there's directions on the bottle, but I'm wondering if there's a better/different way or other things I might need to do if I'm using it as a fretboard finish.

Thanks!
 
#2
the sanding, to me (I'm sure all the real luthiers on this site have all kinds of rhyme and reason for their sanding and techniques) while very important, isn't something that is so.. serious as other aspects of the build.

If you're sanded to 60 now, some people would go through every grit known to man, but frankly I see that as kind of redundant. If I were sanded to 60, I would go next to 80, then 120, then straight to the really finer ones (220?). just go until it feels right.
 
#4
No, I get exactly what you mean; thank you. My question is where to stop... around what grit is it probably smooth enough to finish? I've read that if you sand with too fine a grit, it can prevent finishes from penetrating (maple seals at like 400 or so, I've read). So 220 or 240 would be enough?
 
#7
I guess I'm one of those guys that goes way beyond, but with an oil finish, I like to go to 1000. Every little scratch or whirl will be clearly detailed with an oil finish. Some on here go even higher grit, really its a trial and error thing. I've found it can look a lot better going into the higher grits...
 
#8
When radiusing a fingerboard I rough shape it with 80 grit to avoid imparting scratches that are so deep that they require me to sand beyond my target thickness before they're completely removed with finer grits. I then work thru 100, 120, 150, 180, and 200

Depending on the finish I'm applying, I will either stop with the 200 or proceed onwards to finer grits

- if this will get a spray finish 200 grit is the final destination so that the finish has something to grab ahold of when it cures

- if this will be an oil finish I progress onwards to 400. I'll swab the fingerboard with Naphtha to reveal any scratches that need further attention, and if everything is good I'll utilize 400 wet/dry with Truoil to work a light slurry of wood dust to begin to fill in any open pores. I'll let this filling cure over night and then begin sanding with 800 w/d to smooth everything out, and then again with Truoil working the slurry to pore fill. I repeat this process thru 1200 grit w/d before moving to only applying layers of Truoil in a fashion sililar to French polishing. I'll apply about 20 layers of Truoil over the course of a couple days before letting the fingerboard cure for many days. Once the Truoil is completely cured I buff it to the desired level of shine

All the best,

R
 
#9
Should also note that i follow the same steps for finishing a neck or body, with the exception of taking the Truoil sandpaper slurry method down to 1500 grit before only utilizing the oil to build roughly 40 application coats. When you work a body there's significantly more potential to impart witness lines if you only work in small areas and lose your wet edge as your covering across a large flat area

All the best

R
 
#11
As for skipping grits, you can do this, but remember that each round of sandpaper is removing the scratches left by the previous grit. If you skip many grits, it will get increasingly hard to remove the scratches from the last round.
 
#12
FBB Custom said:
As for skipping grits, you can do this, but remember that each round of sandpaper is removing the scratches left by the previous grit. If you skip many grits, it will get increasingly hard to remove the scratches from the last round.
Click to expand...

something every person who wants it done yesterday should heed. +1000
 

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