After refinishing my neck now squeaks against my thumb and palm

I had some flaws in the neck of my Ukulele, so I sanded, reshaped and refinished the neck. When I was done my satin finish looked and felt amazing, the neck was as smooth as silk. So what’s the problem? My thumb and palm now squeak as they rub against the back and side of the neck. Much as a thumb rubbing on a clean plate would.

Is this something that will correct itself with curing and playing or is it something I’ve done wrong?

The neck is mahogany, the stain Minwax Express, the poly is Minwax Express Low Gloss. Both applied with a cloth, both are water soluble. Two coats of stain followed later with three light coats of poly and after waiting 48 hours a final light sanding with 0000 steel wool.

Thanks in advance. Wes

Since I have yet to get a response I’m assuming this is not a common problem so I’ll add a little more information for the next person to have this issue.

First off this project was started because Kala did not get back to me and I took it upon myself to correct it. Originally I used stain and a 3X Thick Polyurethane Spray. With a spray more care needs to be taken to control overspray and prevent runs. The Thick Spray runs are something that have to be controlled. Twice while thinking it was perfect a run appeared after drying. Each time I sanded back to the bare wood and started over. On the final time I left off the stain.

Because i soon discovered I had the squeaking issue I refinished next with a standard polyurethane spray. Again it looked and felt perfect but the squeak remained. Finally, I used the Minwax mentioned in the original post plus I added a 400 grit sanding sponge. It was easy, controllable and could be repeated as often as needed. The squeak remained.

Please note I have four other ukuleles and none of the others have an issue. Also, the longer it cures the better it seems. It has now been 10 days. Minwax says it takes between 21 & 31 days for their water soluble wipe on polyurethane to completely cure. So now I wait.

Wescanfly said:

Also, the longer it cures the better it seems. It has now been 10 days. Minwax says it takes between 21 & 31 days for their water soluble wipe on polyurethane to completely cure. So now I wait.

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Probably just needs to cure longer. Residual moisture in the finish. All will be fine.

I was hoping it was something like that. Thank you!

Polyurethane is certainly the most prone to squeaking of the different finishes available. If it doesn't "calm down" in a month or so, try rubbing some wax on it (but give it a month to fully cure first) and your squeak should go away.

John

Renaissance Wax

I just returned from the Brown County Ukulele Festival where I asked for some expert advice. I was very pleased to hear they could not tell it had been refinished YES!!! All agreed they loved the feel and the squeaking was minimal.

Thanks for the feedback. It seems a little patience was the answer.