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Hey everyone,

I picked this up at the Martin factory today in Nazareth and was wondering if anyone has used it?

I've done two ebony and one rosewood fingerboards with boiled linseed with the ebony boards turning out great and my rosewood board  going very dark. I really did not want to darken the rosewood so much as it really covered up the nice figure of the board.

I have a landscape ziricote fingerboard coming up in a couple of weeks and  do not want to lose any of the figure as it's very nice.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Ray

Wow.. I have always used boiled linseed oil. While it does darken (wet) Rosewood I have never had issue with it going so dark the figure was lost. Rather the figure was Enhanced, popped by the wetting effect of the oil.

I have never used Roche Thomas Fingerboard Oil I would suspect the effect would be near the same as any penetrating or drying oil is going to wet the wood.

Linseed Oil formulations do darken wood quite a bit, and tends to impart a slightly yellow tone as well. Tung oil is much more clear, and darkens somewhat less, which is why the turning community likes it better for showing the wood.   Might want to try a comparison. Alas, I have no experience with conventional fingerboard oils.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

"Fingerboard oil" is a solution for a non-existent problem. Fingerboards do not need a finish.

People who want a slicker feeling board should first try polishing it out with sanding and buffing. That's all I do.

I hear of good results with boiled linseed oil, but I have had bad reactions between drying oils like boiled linseed and the oils in tropical woods (white crud coming to the surface for years afterward). I would never use tung oil on a fingerboard. It is very slow drying and gummy, unless it has been polymerized, in which case it is like a varnish. It is not a popular finish among turners. Tung oil should not be confused with the many products that call themselves "tung oil finish", some of which do not contain a drop of tung oil. Most of these are oil based varnishes or varnish/oil mixes.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Is it similar to Fret Doctor bore oil?  I haven't tried the Fret Doctor before, but the marketing hype goes something like it will preserve without darkening.  Linseed oils and varnishes tend to reduce grain contrast over time.  In the worst cases, a thick varnish can turn completely black, but it takes a really long time for that to happen.

If the oil is a light color, then it shouldn't shift the color much.  Test on scrap first....

-Ben

Howard - you are correct, of course. I was speaking only generically about Tung Oil (based finishes) vs. linseed oil and that tung oil (finishes)have the property of imparting less color and darking to wood to which it is applied. I have direct experience with this.

Oil finishes and tung oil based finishes in particular, are in fact the preferred finishes for turners.

Oil finishes and turning

I also agree with your comment that f-boards don't need a finish (any more than bridges).

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck