i am looking for tips to start my maple finger board

[FRANK]

can a few luthiers out there explain there method of finish sanding to make it easier on me to achieve a nice look .

[Donald A. Fortune]

Hi Paul- I have a 12 inch long radius board that I use stickum sand paper on and it does a gr8 job
I start with 120 grit and end up with 340 grit- take your time and and it comes out nice and smooth.
Peace, Donald

[FRANK]

DON ARE YOU RUBBING WITH A SPONGY BLOCK OR JUST PAPER

[Donald A. Fortune]

HI Paul - The block is made out of maple and the paper adheres to it - no sponge in between
Peace ...

[FRANK]

so I gota ask how many coats of lacquer are appropriate ?

[Russell Vance]

I finish with 320 grade and then shoot a couple of coats before refretting to start the build and minimise the lacquer build up around the frets when spraying over them. You do not need to worry about the fret slots as very little gets into them (even if you were trying). Try not to add stain directly to bare maple as it is seldom a good look and always looks like an 'add on'. Give the prepcoats a while to dry and cure a bit and then lightly sand them, refret, finsh the fret ends, touch up any lacquer 'bloopers' and spray the lacquer in thin coats until the build thickness is appropriate to the look and serviceablity desired - half a dozen or more coats and then fret level and crown while the lacquer still has some softness about it. Something like that works Ok. R.

[FRANK]

Thank you Russell i tried this i put 8 coats but I got it wet under fret 11 and it blew out a bit when i was wet sanding so you say you shoot a wash coat before and 2 more before you refret then applying a half dozen or more thin coats to achieve the desired coat you also level/crown and polish the frets while it is still setting up Russell if I have 10 days is this achievable ?

[FRANK]

ok guys I am down with that, thank you all my project is back under way. Frank got Rid of the Hacker we are clear now thank you Frank .Gentle men I appreciate this again I have repaired the finger board and I am in the middle of refreting my mistake oops I admitted it ?any how I will get back and let you know how things work out for the first timer with a maple finger board maby just maby this one will go to the 2010 namm show Cheers PHB