Temporary finish

[alex1fly]

I've been reshaping this Tele boat neck and playing it off and on to make sure I like the shape. Ideally Ill do this over a couple of months - want to get it right! - and then take the neck off to do a proper finish. I am wondering if I should put some kind of "temporary finish" on it for this time to protect it while I play it... Or just wipe it down after playing . The neck is maple.

 

[ehdwuld]

Sanding sealer
vinegar

 

[hamerfan]

I did this several times. i used shellac. Easy to apply, all finishes bond on shellac.

I found it useful to determine the thickness of neck on the first and 12th fret from start. I also checked the straight line between this two points during the process.

 

[Mincer]

You can use wipe-on Birchwood Casey gunstock wax like Music Man uses. When you are ready to finish it, you can just sand it off with 600 & 1000 grit sandpaper.

 

[alex1fly]

Got it. Thanks!

 

[Clint 55]

If you are going to be sanding down into the wood to shape it you don't have to worry about doing temporary finishes. The wood's plenty stable without finish. None of my guitars have finish. The only reason why you would want to do a temporary finish is if you were worried about getting dirt down in the grain that couldn't be fine sanded out. But since you're going to be rough sanding down into the wood to shape it, it will be fine bare until you decide to do your final finish.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Like Clint, I wouldn’t be too worried about protecting it.

However, I would put some Burt’s Feed & Wax beeswax on it, simply because it feels awesome.