Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

[toejam]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

[ QUOTE ]
try soaking the board down with mineral oil ,the fingerboard will "slowly" suck that up and swell them shut....using lemon oil will not help...
john

[/ QUOTE ]
Lemon oil is a form of mineral oil, though.

[Newc]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

Any thoughts on getting an ebony block and sanding it down to dust and making a prepared fretboard repair kit? Kinda like those 2-part epoxy kits, where you have a small bottle full of ebony dust and a small bottle of super glue?

[shreddermon]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

Exactly what I did, Newc. Pretty cheap, too...

Ebony blank

Now I've got it in reserve. Only shave it down if/when needed.

[Budman68]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

<font color="aqua">that's also what I do for things like around inlays. Nothing matches better than ebony dust and white elmers [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] well except stew macs black epoxy....... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] </font>

[Dave L]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

MountainDog - Yeah, I got it for about $500...a pretty sweet deal, considering that J/C´s in general cost more here than in the States. A Model 4 usually sells for about $500. And thanks for the rundown on mineral oil!

[peedenmark7]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

I use lemon oil for normal maintanance, cleaning gunk of the board ,and quick clean ups.

it penetrates shallow and fast, because it is a thin viscus petroleum distillate based product .
its NOT a deep wood conditioner.

on occassion you get a hold of a guitar that has spent its life in extremely dry climes.
AZ,NM,NV, and especially high altitude states like colorado are very hard on ebony.
I 've also found the carolinas to be hard on ebony.
ebony cracks big time when not maintained.

mineral oil is not a petroleum distillate based product, it is slow absorbing into the wood and deep conditions, swelling small cracks in the wood.
mineral oil also doesnt dry back out like lemon oil does.

dont be surprised if you were to apply mineral oil before work in the morning, come home 8-9 hours later and theres still a film on the board that hasnt absobed.... dont wipe it off, let it do its job.
It will prolong the life of your fingerboard

hamer never recommends lemon oil because it is basically a mineral spirits [paint thinner] based product which eventually will do more harm than good.

[Dave L]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

Thanks, man!

On a sidenote, I talked to a guy who claimed that the dust/glue routine might not work if I try to oil the cracks shut first. Any thoughts on that? As I understood him, he said that the glue might not make its way thru the entire crack if there´s oil in there. I didn´t understand why, though. Maybe he just meant I shouldn´t try it right away? I mean, oil should disappear into the wood after a while.

[toejam]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

I use Weiman's lemon oil with sunscreen. It's got no petroleum distillates or silicons, it contains white mineral oil. It's great for all kinds of furniture and wood instruments. Works great for me.
Baby oil is fine, as is Vaseline which Jackson recommends. Jimmy D'Acquisto, the acoustic guitar maker, actually recommends motor oil... 10W30 or 10W40 will be fine.
Basically, most oils that are mineral-based are fine, just stay away from anything that is vegetable-based, as it may rot the wood over time.

[sully]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks, man!

On a sidenote, I talked to a guy who claimed that the dust/glue routine might not work if I try to oil the cracks shut first. Any thoughts on that? As I understood him, he said that the glue might not make its way thru the entire crack if there´s oil in there. I didn´t understand why, though. Maybe he just meant I shouldn´t try it right away? I mean, oil should disappear into the wood after a while.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'd guess it may be something like oil and water not mixing. i know the glue isn't exactly water, but the oil could create a barrier that will keep the glue from adhering.

[Newc]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

Try putting a sticker on an oiled surface - same thing. The oil is slick by its very nature, which means nothing will stick to it.

[Deneb]

Re: Slightly cracked ebony fretboard - help?

Lemon oil will not hurt the guitar...trust me.