Maple Fretboard Finishing

[stiggz]

this probably sounds like a stupid question, but, how do u finish maple fretboards and what is the procedure in doing so?

[Brian]

Two options off the top of my head, first is to mask off each individual fret and spray a clearcoat on the entire neck and the second is more like what the lower end factory jobs do and just clear coat it completely.

I have had to clean up so many frets because of over spray on the lower end production guitars it's not funny.

Course there is a third option and thats finish the clearing before you fret it but your always going to end up going through the clear when you dress the fret ends.

[Southpa]

I would dress the fret ends first, then apply your clearcoat over everything. Wait until it has cured enough, tape up the fretboard and level/crown the frets.

[erikbojerik]

I just finished my 3rd maple neck, like this:

Sanding sealer everywhere & sand

Many coats polyurethane on fretboard only

Finish-sand & buff out fretboard

Clean out fret slots & install frets

Mask fretboard surface

Level & bevel the fret ends

One more coat sanding sealer on back & sand

PolyU-buff out the rest of the neck

Expose frets through the tape with razor blade

Level-crown-dress-buff frets

Remove remaining tape, clean up (buff) fretboard edge

My first 2 necks I had done the sanding sealer everywhere first, then installed the frets, then did the finish over top of the frets. It wasn't too bad a job to clean up the frets, for me the most frustrating thing was having to sand the fretboard between the frets during finishing.

[stiggz]

thanks fellas ill ask some other people what they think is the best method, but now im leaning toward the masking of each fret way, sounds like less fuss cleaning up