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Just curious as to how many of you polish your bridges as opposed to just oiling them?
Would also be interested in your techniques.
Thanks,
Bill

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Formerly know as Mandodiddle.

I usually sand up to 800 grit then buff with a small drill press buffer. Same as I use for my frets and fretboard.

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Sand up to 600 or 1500 grit and wipe on shellac. Optionally micromesh to full gloss after that.

I usually sand 400 to 1500, micromesh from 3600 to 8000 and then oil. Most likely overkill but that's what I have always done.

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Blue Ring Acoustics
blueringacoustics.ca

Sand up to around 800 and buff.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Polish, buff and then oil for me.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

What kind of oil?

sand to 800 grit and then refined linseed oil.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

I use gun stock oil, the kind they sell at Wally World. In a pinch I have used olive oil, seemed to work fine

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I generally stop by 220 (or a well worn piece of 180), then off to the buffing wheel. I'm sure it depends on what wheels and compounds you use, but with our setup I find no real improvement beyond 220.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Full gloss, pumice pore fill, French polish. Different convention.

All the way to 220, but by hand, which takes more craftsmanship.

For the bridge polishers, does it make a difference to you what wood the bridge is made of? I found that fine sanding/polishing an ebony bridge made it very susceptible to marking. Even a light pass with something like the flat of a finger nail would leave a burnish-like mark. That was irritating so I stopped going above 400. Have any of you had that happen and if so have you figured out a way to deal with it?

Dennis and Eric - Are you talking about bridges for classical guitars?

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Guilty as charged. I'm not a fan of ebony, or any high-damping, high-density wood for bridges, and I've had good feedback replacing ebony bridges with Brazilian rosewood on steel strings. But most of my experience is on classicals. For my own guitars, I pay attention to density, conformation, "Q", weight, top deflection, guitar timbre, and yes, bridge "finish".

OOOO steel wool to get the dirt and finger jam off then off to the buffing wheel followed up by Howard Feed-n-wax. That's if I want a nice deep, dark, polished look on repair instruments.

When I was building micro mesh the crap out of it followed by Howard Feed-n-wax.

I've always loved the way nicer classicals with FPed bridges look - very eloquent!

Hesh, did you mean to say FPed bridges Sound eloquent or Look elegant?


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I just go through all the Micromesh grits. I don't buff or oil them. I have also largely gotten away from Ebony. BZ is my favorite .

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Everything. Whenever I try polishing bare wood, it only stays shiny until I touch it and then gets covered in dull fingerprints. Maybe if I let it sit for a few days to form an oxide layer it would be more resilient, but shellac looks better anyway.

First one is straight from scraper to shellac, second is sanded to 1500 grit and then shellacked, and third is the post-shellac micromesh treatment.

I'm always interested in interior finishing. I like clean, no shine finish. Bare wood. I've used Port Orford oil for a while now. Does anyone use drying oils?

Hey Rusty I meant look. You will rarely hear be attempt to qualify tone. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, and won't do it again...

Like a dummy, I polished Ebony with compound.
Try as I may, I cannot get all of the compound out of the grain.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I know it's a bit off topic, but would anybody recommend drying oils to work the inside of a body?

And, do big box stores sell refined linseed oil or should I go with specialty suppliers?

Haven't bought any in a number of years, but any hardware or building supply store used to carry it as boiled linseed oil, around these parts, anyways.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker