# Neck re-finish - 1991 Norman B20 Folk



## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

*Neck re-finish - 1999 Norman B20 Folk*

You might remember I was having a 'sticky' problem with my old Norman acoustic. The finish had decayed from hard play wear and every time I played the guitar my hand would get annoyingly sticky.

Well I tried a variety of cleaning options and none of them really worked.

I heard from another forum member who had a similar issue with a Norman of similar vintage. That pretty much settled it for me. The finish had to go.

I took the strings off, removed the tuners, taped off the fretboard and the body. I decided to keep the original finish on the front of the headstock, with the 'Norman' logo, so I taped that off too.

A quick note - please do not consider anything I did here as professional advice. I've been messing with guitars for years, but I'm a total amateur. Also keep in mind that this is a cheap guitar. They weren't all that pricey when they were new, and I picked it up used for $200 and played it hard for 3 years. I think I've spent more money on shampoo over that three year period than I did on this instrument. Just keep that in mind, LOL. I like the guitar a lot, but it won't break my heart if I happen to destroy it. Getting it playable again would be great, and that's what I'm trying to do here.

The finish came off remarkably quick with 150 grit paper, especially in the heavy wear areas. I switched to 320 grit to smooth that out, and then 600 grit, and then 0000 steel wool. The neck felt great when I was done stripping, really smooth and slick and kinda shiny even.

Next I knocked all the dust off, and then used a bit of lighter fluid on a clean piece of cheesecloth to get the last bits of it off.

And on to the refinish. I looked at several options in the Home Depot, including Tung Oil and Antique Oil and Teak Oil, but what i came home with was Danish Oil. Wipe on and wait, then wipe it off and repeat. I'm in the wait stage right now, using up my waiting time by writing this post. I've never used this product before so I have no idea how it's going to turn it, but my fingers are crossed.

Collecting photos as I go - I'll post some of those later when i get some time.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Congratulations and well done! 

Personally, I think you did all the correct things in the correct order. 
I have used Danish Oil on woodworking projects many years ago and I liked it. Looking forward to the pics.

Cheers

Dave


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Some surprises for me when I took the tuners off. They're numbered, but not in any way i can make sense of.

Low E = 2, A = 4 D = 3, G = 1, B = 3, high E = 2 

The nylon gasket on one of them is kinda blown. Not sure how clear that is in the photo. Does anyone recognize these tuners? I might need to replace that one.



Tape up and initial appearance:





Stripped bare:



Danish Oil:



It seems to be coming out pretty nice. It's hard to resist stringing it up and trying it out, but I really need to wait a good 12 hours plus before I even think about that. It kinda reminds me of the necks on the old EVH Kramers from the 80's that I couldn't afford at the time. Fingers crossed that it all works out.


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## Guest (May 4, 2014)

The order of the numbered tuners remind me of a engine firing order.
Are there any differences in the thickness of the shafts? any logos?
They look like schaller to me. GLWProject. If you make it playable to
your satisfaction (regardless of cosmetics), you've done well.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

The tuners have a maker's mark of some sort. It's like a big capital 'H', with an embedded 'C' sitting in between the lower arms of the H.

Montreal Canadians? LOL.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

I put the hardware back on last night and strung it up. Big big improvement in the way the neck feels.

Only time will tell if the Danish Oil finish is durable enough for the long haul, but so far it seems to be working out.

I am a bit concerned about one of the tuning machines. I'd never really looked at the 'anatomy of a tuning machine' before, but I can see now that the little nylon washer that sits between the tuning button and the body of the tuner plays a critical role in preventing the tuning machine from just spinning freely (i.e. not holding tune). 

One of those little nylon rings has split open and I had to replace it with a similar part (unfortunately not the 'right' part) from an unused guitar.

Can those little rings be sourced somewhere? Or do you just replace the whole tuning machine, or the whole set?

Seems like a big expense for one tiny little part.


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