India Ink Fretboard Ebonizing

[Guitarkid8]

I think scrubbing the board with naphtha or a similar product would remove any grease from fingers, oils, etc. that should help with the blotches. I used acetone before but I believe sully said that it would soften the inlays and binding, so I wouldn't recommend it.

[Mudlark]

Yeah, I'm gonna' give the new neck a lighter fluid cleaning to get rid of grease or dirt even if it appears clean.

[Number Of The Priest]

Wow, that is DARK. Mudlark, did you leave the strings on? Did you simply slacken the tension on all strings? Or are you restringing with fresh strings every time you apply a fresh coat of India Ink?

[Mudlark]

I just loosen them, pull 'em off the nut and pull 3 up and 3 down over the top and bottom edges of the bridge. You need a lot of slack on the middle strings or they'll come off the tuners. Mine have 4-6 wrappings each post, which allows plenty of loosening room.

I may give it more coats to lesson the unevenness. The last coat improved it greatly.

[Mudlark]

Rosewood and ebony.
I'm thrilled.

[IMG][/IMG]

[xenophobe]

I wonder if it'll be durable like the Feibings.

[Mudlark]

The woodworker in the youtube video says it's more durable than leather dye, but he didn't mention brand names.
I don't know how he came to that conclusion, but I'm hoping he found out through trial and error.

[Number Of The Priest]

The Youtube video makes the claim that India Ink is permanent and lightfast because the ink is used for calligraphy that is hung up on the wall and needs to remain solid and beautiful despite being constantly exposed to sunlight and the elements.

That would make me trust it for guitar fretboards, but I should do my own tests.

[TKEblue]

There doesn't appear to be any difference between the two. Looks as black as dyed ebony. Definitely giving me the itch for a project. Thanks for being our guinea pig!

[Number Of The Priest]

Since Mudlark's success was encouraging, I bought a little 2oz jar of Speedball Super Black India Ink (CAD$6.79) and an inexpensive fine-tipped paintbrush (CAD$0.50) from my local arts supply store. Will post progress photos and review in a separate thread so as not to clutter Mudlark's thread.

[Mudlark]

Good luck. I expect to have a better example to show next week when the other neck arrives. One thing I hadn't taken into consideration is, how will it react to conditioners or cleaners?

I'm not worried because I don't use it, but it may be advisable to do a test on a piece of wood.

[Number Of The Priest]

Yeahhhh... good luck getting scraps of rosewood in our current post-CITES environment.

It's been many months since all four of my rosewood fretboards received any treatment (steel wool cleaning and lemon oil conditioning). I think mine will be fine.

[Mudlark]

I meant any wood. I tried it on a piece of spruce kindling today and mineral oil didn't hurt it.

[Number Of The Priest]

Good to know! That's reassuring.

[Mudlark]

After finishing my Iceman I can say this ink is a breeze. The Iceman had less minwax and I didn't foolishly paint it with a sharpie.

For those reasons I had a better experience. This stuff sinks in like water...there's no need to wipe away excess. After a few minutes it'll soak in and be dry. 2 coat and I was done. The heavy coat of minwax on the first board is almost certainly the reason the ink got gummy and didn't soak in well. The Iceman's board simply swallowed it up.

After I'd made it the length of the board it was time for the second coat. The first coat covered 90%, but there were a few light patches that disappeared after the second coat.

Next up my JS3 bass. That had the fewest coats of minwax, so I expect 2 coats with no issues.
This week should bring my new neck, and provided it fits and performs properly, that'll be the one I'm curious about since it's a fresh board.

Then, finally, I'll do my SL2HT.