Care of Ebony Fingerboards

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Exitao

Posts: 907
Joined: Mar. 13 2006
From: Vancouver, Canada

Care of Ebony Fingerboards

I've seen products for conditioning fingerboards so someone must think this is a good idea.

From what I can tell the ebony fingerboard on mine must be finished differently because it's not as glossy as any other part of the guitar.

What's the best thing to do?

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Callidus et iracundus.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2008 0:01:45

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

give it a bit of acid free oil, like lemon oil etc.

Your fingerboard should not be finished.

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Blog: http://news-from-the-workshop.blogspot.com/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2008 3:01:25

Exitao

Posts: 907
Joined: Mar. 13 2006
From: Vancouver, Canada

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

I somehow knew you would be the person to answer. And I thank you for being you.

I had suspected that the fingerboard was unfinished but oiled. What treatment do you give fingerboards as a luthier?

I'm a little surprised to learn that lemon oil is acid free. I thought citrus fruit were acidic by nature. I know it stings like acid when I get lemon juice in a paper cut.

Does the oil come from peels or the tree itself?

Thanks again.

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Callidus et iracundus.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2008 6:11:38

krichards

Posts: 597
Joined: Jan. 14 2007
From: York, England

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

quote:

I thought citrus fruit were acidic by nature

Citrus fruits certainly are acid but the oils may not be.
Anyway as Anders says, lemon oil does the job, as does orange oil, tangerine oil etc

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Kevin Richards

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2008 23:30:57

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

I personally use a chineese carmellia oil which I buy in Germany (I use it for FP as well) but you can use whatever acid free oil.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 8 2008 23:46:51

edguerin

Posts: 1607
Joined: Dec. 24 2007
From: Siegburg, Alemania

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

quote:

chineese carmellia oil

would that be "Teesamenöl" aka "Camelienöl"?
And where do you get it in Germany?

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Ed

El aficionado solitario
Alemania

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 9 2008 8:26:42

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

Hi Ed

Its called Sinensis carmelia oil and I buy it at www.dick.biz

A fantastic place where I buy all my hand tools, wooden pegs etc. Its somewhere in Bayern

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 9 2008 23:46:21

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

Hehe, Its not my fault that the filter makes it impossible to write this word.

This very old High quality german family business has a very bad name. Exchange the **** with the english word for what men have between their legs.

www.dic*.biz

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 9 2008 23:49:19

edguerin

Posts: 1607
Joined: Dec. 24 2007
From: Siegburg, Alemania

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

Ah, I know them (the firm of course ..l.)

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Ed

El aficionado solitario
Alemania

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 10 2008 3:02:05

Per Hallgren

Posts: 241
Joined: Jul. 1 2006
From: Sweden

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

Hey , Anders, what is the special thing with that oil. You make me curious. To use mineral oil, olive oil, walnutoil when french polishing is a common practice. Are you danish polishing, or what? Seriously, I'm interested in what you have to say.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 10 2008 9:59:30

duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Per Hallgren)

he´s using "gameldansk" im shure

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This is hard stuff!
Don't give up...
And don't make it a race.
Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.

RON

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 10 2008 10:06:09

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

Per, I use this oil because I like it and I have it in the house. I´m sure you can use a lot of other oils which are equally good. The oil is light and easyer to remove than olive oil which is the traditional oil for FPing.

Gammeldansk, I havent drunk one for years. I prefer Sill och snapps (+ Pripps blaa )

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 11 2008 2:33:53

duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

quote:

I prefer Sill och snapps (+ Pripps blaa )

me to, bu i prefer "sort guld" or "tuborg"

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This is hard stuff!
Don't give up...
And don't make it a race.
Enjoy the ray of sunshine that comes with every new step in knowledge.

RON

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 11 2008 5:10:43

Estevan

Posts: 1958
Joined: Dec. 20 2006
From: Torontolucía

RE: Care of Ebony Fingerboards (in reply to Exitao)

quote:

Does the oil come from peels or the tree itself?

'Lemon oil' used for wood has nothing to do with lemon fruit or trees. It's a petroleum distillate (a form of mineral oil) mixed with a solvent such as naptha.

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Me da igual. La música es música.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Oct. 12 2008 7:17:41