Titebond for fretboard..ebonizing & hardening wood

[Canadrian]

Ah...but he said Macassar ebony. Different wood. I've made several fingerboards out of it and it's great stuff.

My bad! I misread that! Checked it out. This wood is on the red list:

Sustainability: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/restricted-and-endangered-wood-species/This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices, but is on the IUCN Red List. It is listed as vulnerable due to a population reduction of over 20% in the past three generations, caused by a decline in its natural range, and exploitation.

I am not trying to be a environmental activist here

Just curious if there are any "greener" exotic woods out there that will (or can be made to look like) Ebony/Rosewood fretboards.

 

[dschwartz]

IMHO, composite materials could be the best way.. i´d love to be able to make carbon fiber or resin-based composites on a mould and produce a lot of already radiused, slotted, consistent fretboards..

hmm a 100% environmental aware guitar thread would be nice..
like hmm..
a guitar made of only non-threatened woods, with a environmentally friendly finish and parts..

 

[Freddy G]

that are more sustain-able

I like that...Freudian

 

[fatdaddypreacher]

we've already had an mdf and a plywood guitar. that's pretty much getting down. i'm personally waiting for the right deal on some used cardboard.

but serously, this horse has been ridden quite a bit, but there are tons of wood that make excellant musical instruments, but because of their not being so widely available they don't get much exposure. I personally have a hankering to put a magnolia top on a carve top model. it is quite hard and i have a hunch it will have a bit of a ring to it when dried properly.

 

[Stormin1155]

I've used simple black leather dye to "ebonize" fretboards. I'm pretty sure guitar manufacturers dye even the ebony they use because most ebony doesn't come pitch black.

 

[Canadrian]

I am already looking for second hand Mahogany furniture. I see a lot of tables with solid mahogany tops and legs for less than $50 but the problem is that it is not thick enough. I also don't know what laminating it will do and if it will work as a body blank. The legs can be the neck maybe?

This way I am re-using lumber. I like to reclaim building materials. I build a chicken coop, woodpile shelter and a garden shed all out of reclaimed wood.

It's a little bit more work but costs me nothing!

My father in-law is restoring a 120 year old barn here in Ontario. He had me take off about 60% of the barn board and some of the floor pieces. I have selected some of the boards and going to attempt a telecaster style guitar for him. The rest will become a little guest house.

I also have a huge stack of Jatoba boards that I would like to try as a fretboard.

Furthermore I have no issues using lumber that is readily available.

 

[melomanarock]

.. I also don't know what laminating it will do and if it will work as a body blank..

You should ask a Norlin owner..

 

[dschwartz]

Just a little update:
i took one of the ebonized pieces and sprayed a few coats of acrylic laquer, letting it sunk into the wood..
the result was pretty good, it hardened the surface a lot....

 

[Ole'Lefty]

Just commenting that I recommend "against the flow" on FB to neck glue. I use medium set epoxy (West Systems). I prefer to avoid a water based glue for this stage. Later, if need be, I will be able to remove with heat( household iron) and careful "spatula work." Titebond requires heat as well. With epoxy, install is also easy-warm FB, scrape any old glue off, wipe with acetone or naptha if you are concerned you might hurt binding. I now fret and bind and inlay the complete FB assembly and slap it back on. Every clamp you can find- you might use a radius block(s) as cauls but make sure that make close to perfect contact to your radius

For perfect fit, I install thick binding.Then, I take a Carruth scraper (before I got that pair, I used regular scrapers often made from extra saw plate from a sawyer friend) to scrape the binding until the last pass gets wood and plastic. Then I know it is flush fit. Follow with micro-mesh. A well tuned scraper can leave a factory smooth glowing binding when used properly.

Here is how I shape my FB dimensions--- have to edit. Have the pair of these 140's-- they truly work in spite of their inherent beauty. http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?grp=1274---And this behemoth, aka "aircraft carrier" gently clamped upside down in a padded Stew_Mac visehttp://www.lie-nielsen.com/viewimage.php?grp=1265&layout=blank

 

[Ole'Lefty]

If I could recommend one Lie-Nielsen tool, for you folks, it would be their Small Scraper. http://www.lie-nielsen.com/images/212t.gif

 

[fumblefinger]

Just a thought. I used Brazilian Redwood flooring from Lumber Liquidators in my bath. It has a Janka hardness of 3190. That's just a notch under ebony at 3220. It's a nice red color. It could probably be dyed reasonably well with Fieblings or something similar. If you're interested I'm fairly sure I've got some left over.
3/8" x 3" Brazilian Redwood - BELLAWOOD | Lumber Liquidators Mine looked a little more red than this shot.

 

[Brian I]

i'm personally waiting for the right deal on some used cardboard.

Sorry FDP, Antonio de Torres did that in 1862, and David Laplante replicated it a few years ago : Official Luthiers Forum! • View topic - The Torres Cardboard Guitar

 

[fatdaddypreacher]

yeh, i thought i remembered something like that^^^.. I remembered when Antonio did that. I was a senior in high school then and he was a constant source of inspiration.

...man, where do you get your information. i don't see how you ever have time to build with all the info gathering you do

 

[dschwartz]

as a follow up,
i took the ebonized/acrilyc hardened fretboard blank and proceeded to cut the fret slots.. looks pretty good so far, although i´ll have to repeat the whole ebonizing and hardening process after radiusing

made a little mitter box:

some pics of the process

clean cuts:

the result:

 

[fatdaddypreacher]

interesting. does it appear as though your lacquer soaked into the wood enough to not wear off to quickly, or is just laying on top like paint would. i had been thinking about diluted some resin with various agents...like maybe naptha...to see if that would penetrate to any degree and give a hardened surface that would tend to polish the more it was used, as oppose to wearing thin spots.

i love you ingenuity and inquisitive approach to things. i too love to create and experiment.

nice looking board, in any event. good slot cutting

 

[dschwartz]

interesting. does it appear as though your lacquer soaked into the wood enough to not wear off to quickly, or is just laying on top like paint would. i had been thinking about diluted some resin with various agents...like maybe naptha...to see if that would penetrate to any degree and give a hardened surface that would tend to polish the more it was used, as oppose to wearing thin spots.

i love you ingenuity and inquisitive approach to things. i too love to create and experiment.

nice looking board, in any event. good slot cutting

thanks !!

it feels like it sunk into the wood, the texture of the wood is still there, but i can´t scratch it with my fingernails, which is a good sign..

i think i´ll improve the process by heavily diluting nitro, and drying the piece in the oven for a few minutes before coating, so it will take it more deeply.. i think nitro sealer would work as good..
the trick will be to put as much as the wood can take, without letting the coats to lay above the surface..

 

[fatdaddypreacher]

great idea. please post results

 

[dschwartz]

yup, i´ll be posting..
i have this way of thinking of questioning every standard, i don´t like to learn, i like to understand, that´s why on every thing i do, i reject the standard and try to find alternative ways to match the goals..
i know a healthy person would stick to standards, but i´m a little crazy and stubborn..

 

[fatdaddypreacher]

we might need to check our family tree. sure sound like we have a lot in common.

 

[Ole'Lefty]

Yes, my whole life has been "want to know or understand something, well, go learn to do it?" I think it is personality trait seen here frequently.