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I am binding an ebony fingerboard in maple and finding when sanding
that the maple gets dirty from the dust.  Anybody know how to
avoid this? Using a scraped is better, but still problematic.  Any
way to clean up the maple after it gets dirty?  Alcohol wash or
something?



Thanks, Rob McC

I dont do alot of fingerboard binding but have had a similar problem with sanding dark coloured rosettes and binding on light spruce tops. I minimise darkening up of the spruce by using a scraper and trying to scrape into rosette/binding from lighter coloured top. I also shellac the top before scraping/sanding.

Has the fingerboard been radiused before the binding goes in or afterwards?

I bind most of my fingerboards, and I use maple most of the time. I think it starts to look better the higher the grit you are using on the fingerboard. When I get to the really higher grite, I think I end with 600, the maple does not look so discolored. What grit are you on, it looks bad at 80 and 120 for me then starts to get better.

Blake

[QUOTE=Hesh1956] My experience has been the same as Blake's - the higher the grit of sand paper used the more the discoloration goes away. [/QUOTE]

Thanks Blake and Hesh, this is one of Mario's "Aha, moments." He says that hanging on the forums gives him one of these every few weeks. This is one. Better luthing through listening.

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