Paul H. Jacobson, Luthier

A tung oil finish on a neck is for a guitarist who likes the feel of natural wood but wants some protection on the wood to keep the surface from getting soiled.  I prefer mahogany over Spanish cedar for a neck like this.  Mahogany is usually a little harder than Spanish cedar, and the pores tend to be smaller.  However, a carefully selected Spanish cedar neck with those qualities can serve very nicely.

A tung oil finish on a neck is very simple to do.  My process goes like this—

• After final-sanding the neck, apply the stain and let dry overnight.
• The next day pad a coat of tung oil to achieve surface saturation but not standing wet condition; you don't want the tung oil to run.  Dry 24 hours.  This coat serves as a sealer coat to hold out the stain in the wood filler.
• Apply wood filler to the neck and let dry overnight.
• Apply one or more coats of tung oil less than standing wet and allow 24 hours drying in between.

A nice feature of this finish is that the guitarist can maintain it without luthier intervention.  Every so often when the surface handled by the thumb starts to look a bit grungy, simply put a spot of tung oil on a cloth pad and wipe away the grunge, leaving a little oil on the neck to dry.

The same Minwax Wipe-On Poly that I use for soundboards, either Clear Satin or -Gloss, can be used in place of tung oil if the guitarist would like a little more finish build on the neck.