I followed the instructions for using the polymerized tung oil on the neck that I found on Highliner Guitars's Youtube video. I did a very light staining in cherry (first photo), and then sanded it down to only leave the grain. Initially, I thought I'd made a huge mistake by not putting a coat of sanding sealer on first, but I now like the look of the speckled clusters of grain that really came out. The second photo is after the 5th coat of oil.
Gives it a nice looking oak-like finish.
Finished putting on final coat of water based varnish (4 coats of Saman high luster).
Now comes the 1-month wait for the varnish to completely cure before starting the fine grain sanding.
Anyone with tips and tricks from this point on, please let me know
That is very cool! How did the Saman do at leveling? Did you end up brushing it on? It looks good!
I usually put more coats of clear on. I don't know that I need to, but I usually have some brushmarks to get out, so I like to have a bit more built up. That allows me to (carefully) flat sand with 320 or even 220 in very rough places. 400 is the highest I have been going lately with sandpaper--or more lately with sanding mesh. After that I use a maroon, then grey 3M sanding pads. After that I start buffing.
I formerly went through wet sanding starting at 320-5000 and then buffed at the end. But the sanding mesh and 3M pads allows me to dry sand, and buffing is also dry. I am new to buffing with a wheel, and have only recently figured out a way to do it with my small bench drill press. I am still working out the kinks of this system.
The problem with wet sending a water based clear is twofold. Any place that water finds it's way under the clear (screw hole, rout, etc) it can cause the wood to swell and bad things happen. The other is that, at least with some H2O based clears, even after 4 weeks it's still possible to activate the finish. The two clears I have used no longer recommend wet sanding (Crystalac [current] and General Finishes [where I have had activation problems--and won't use again]). You may want to correspond with SamaN about sanding and polishing once finished to see if they have any recommendations or reservations. It looks like one of it's recommended uses is floors, so my guess is that it should be pretty tough.
The body looks great and the decal is amazing. Good work.Originally Posted by Pat Rodgers
Finished putting on final coat of water based varnish (4 coats of Saman high luster).
Now comes the 1-month wait for the varnish to completely cure before starting the fine grain sanding.
Anyone with tips and tricks from this point on, please let me know
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator), FH-5V (Acoustic), DMS-1 (Mustang).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback.
fender3x, the leveling of the Saman seemed pretty good, it definitely worked best to be fairly liberal with the amount put on for each coat (without getting too crazy and causing uncontrollable drips). Most of the time, it levelled very well, but there were the occasional channels from the brush, but those got filled in with each successive coat. I applied each coat with the body lying flat, so I only did one side each day. I was very happy that the decal was not too smooth/slick to take the varnish evenly. Like you mentioned, I put enough thick coats that I feel I have a good base to sand. I can't really remember the last time I worked with varnish, so it's hard to say how it compares to normal varnish. I have to say that I'm pretty happy with it, and the ease of cleanup is definitely a bonus.
As for sanding, I agree that dry sanding is the way to go. From the videos and documentation I've seen, you're right that they seem to recommend dry sanding. Thanks for mentioning the grit levels, that's good to know.
Thanks again!
With a little more than a week to go until I start fine sanding the body, I tackled the fret leveling.
Overall, it went pretty well. The big lesson learned: tap the frets down with a rubber hammer to make sure they are all seated properly before doing any filing/sanding of the frets. My initial testing with the fret rocker had a lot of clicking happening on a large number of the frets. By tapping the frets down a bit, I immediately eliminated most of the high spots.
I bought a cheap kit off of Amazon, but it worked pretty well. The rocker was the only component that was virtually unusable due to not being perfectly straight on a couple of sides, but I received a much better quality rocker that was combined with the notched neck level. Still, my next lesson learned is to go ahead and spring for the better quality tools for future builds.
Yes, a good rocker is important, and good fret files, and nut files, radiused sanding block... In fact - I think the neck work tools are the ones which need to be the best quality, but they are so expensive when you start guitar building.
I think we all go through the lesson of learning to "spring for better quality tools".
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator), FH-5V (Acoustic), DMS-1 (Mustang).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
Guilty as charged!
So take that into account for this next part... I started using a rocker I made...which was OK. Then I got a couple of cheap rockers with other things I purchased. Also fine. They are usually fine, so you might just try to get another cheap one on Amazon and it will probably be fine. You can also fix your rocker. Glue a bit of 320 sandpaper to something you know is flat and sand the offending edge until it's flat.
You can also make a sanding beam and a knotched straight edge. I "repurposed" a 24" I-beam level for the latter. I made a knotched straight edge from an unknotched straight edge from Harbor Freight using an angle grinder. That was for bass. For guitar, I realized that I could get a knotched one for not much more than a conventional straight edge. They work the same. The store-bought one is prettier...
I got T-style radius gauges cheap on amazon. I also bought a cheap 12" radius block (which is what most kit necks are). Both fine, although some of the cheap blocks not good.
All of these were cheap, but also easy to check. You can even download a PDF to check the radius gauges...and then use them to check the radius block.
Files are another matter. I followed this guy's advice...
...and got the Baroque (Gen 3) file, which works WAY better and faster than using cheap files. He's recommending Fret-Guru files now. The FG is about twice as expensive as Baroque. Either one is a lot cheaper than the Music Nomad or Stew Mac. Haven't tried the others, but the Baroque Gen 3 is worth every penny of the $30 I paid for it. Certainly good enough to keep me from buying the Hosco or SM for over $100.
I also got a cheap end beveling file, and I dress the fret before finishing with needle files and sanding sponges. I don't think my fret ends are as pretty as what some folks do with a dressing file, but it's fast and takes all the burrs off. I mostly still use a cheap set of needle files to take off anything that the sanding sponge doesn't get. Not sure this is cheaper since it destroys a couple of sanding sponges each time I do it. It's just fast.
By far the most expensive luthier tool(s) that I have purchased has been nut files. The consensus is that cheap nut files are worthless. I did my first basses with "needle files" that are actually welding nozzle cleaners. You can do a decent job of cutting a BASS nut with these if you have patience. They are very slow and hurt my fingers, but they work. They are IMHO too flimsy to work on guitar. I was able to make "files" our of a set of feeler gauges, which worked...but was also very slow and hurt my fingers... And also convinced me that I needed real nut files. I think most people here eventually get a decent set of Uo-chikyu or Hosco files. Or SM. I think they are all made in the same factory. I got a set of Hoscos for guitar and bought a few Uo-Chikyus to complete the set for Bass. SOOOOO much nicer.
Last edited by fender3x; 30-09-2025 at 02:08 AM.
Thanks for the replies Trevor and fender3x, I really appreciate it. Yes, I've seen the prices on SM and Music Nomad tools, and I'm sure they are great quality, but "yikes"
fender3x, I will use all you said above as a reference, that is a lot of great information. I'm actually very happy with the fret leveling for this build, everything is now perfectly level and I think I did a pretty good job of recrowning. The cheap-o crowning file did a surprisingly good job, but I don't expect the file to last; I think they are known to lose effectiveness pretty fast due to a softer metal.
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