I bought some perfect 1/4 blanks of some various exotic hard woods at the woodcraft store recently and am currently putting a CBG together using purpleheart for the fret boards (will be fretted) slots already cut.
Just curious what people typically use to finish a fretted fret board. I have some rub-on polyurethane (satin finish). I know some woods like rosewood fret boards can be left unfinished.
As always, all comments and opinions are always welcome and usually helpful.
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Well...I just hashed this out with my dad who is a professional cabinet builder/wood worker and his theory is pretty much exactly what CB said. I did all my cut and glue-ups in the shop where its been pretty cold as of late (in Colorado). Then brought the piece inside my nice warm, cozy (likely more humid) home to apply the lemon oil. I'm thinking the exposed (non-fret-board) side basked in the heat and humidity, expanded and....you know the rest. I have to assume the fact that the two different species of wood reacted to the environment change pretty differently added to the problem.
My dad's plan for the next one was to get all my cuts done in garage, bring the pieces in the house for a few days to acclimate, then do glue ups in the house, only taking the piece out to garage to work on it after my space heater has warmed the garage up a bit and bring it back into house when not working on it. Any other suggestions or advice are welcome.
Will definitely be storing my wood and pieces I'm working on for future pieces in the house like CB said.
This was all well seasoned wood, none of it green, but had been stored in my garage/wood shop which stays cold for most of the time. I usually turn on a little space heater when I work out there otherwise colorado winter cold (during this season anyways).
I never had this issue in past, but most of the woodworking I've done is large furniture, so everything is pretty locked in by the time I bring it into the house.
Wierd... I didn't see CbJ's response. Sorry for your loss. Thanks for sharing, that'll probably save me one day...
John: Have you had issues with warping due to expansion/contration of differing wood types?
Ok So I'm panicking a little.
Decided to try something simple and went with a lemon oil. Picked up some Old English Lemon Oil at Home Depot today. Just started to apply to my fret board prior to putting in frets, (Note: the neck has no finish on it, fret board is purpleheart and neck is a dark walnut) when i started to notice the entire neck/fret board was bowing. Not sure if this is normal, but I doubt it. I swear this neck and fret board were very straight prior to applying lemon oil. See pic below. Thinking I'm gonna have to throw this one. I did start to apply oil to the neck as well to see if would straighten but no luck so far. Can anyone explain what happened or what I did wrong? I'm assuming no fix as I have some experience attempting to straighten warped lumber but any suggestions would help.
Unseasoned or poorly sawn timber, or it's been stored at one humidity level and brought into a different environment and warped due to humidity and temperature changes. Nothing to do with oiling the surface of the timber, that won't have any significant effect. You built many necks? The reason I ask is that it's happened to me, but only a couple of times and I reckon I've learned from the experience . Throw it away or burn it.
Yep, guessing this is right. Wood was stored in my cold garage for a long time. Will try again with different wood.
I bought a cheapo digital weather station with a remote sensor, tells me the temp and humidity in my studio (in my house) and outside garage. I always try and store my timber in the house to stabilise the humidity - depending on where you live, you may be alarmed at the huge variation between internal and external humidity once you can see it on a read-out!! You might get away with planing off the fingerboard, letting the neck stabilise , re-planing and putting on a new fingerboard..but that's a lot of work..also it looks like you've notched the neckstick for the box and added a heel, so it looks like firewood to me....
Wow,
Thanks all. As always some great advice from some real professionals. Fascinating about the purple heart, Tommy, I've never heard this before. I've done a lot of woodworking, but have never used it or seen anyone talk about it. Looking forward to seeing how this wood evolves over time.
For most of my builds, and I've only made 1 fretboard with more to come: I use either boiled linseed oil diluted with mineral spirits (like Marty O) or Danish oil (Like Richey K).
From what I can tell, Danish oil IS boiled linseed oil with solvents and stain added (compare the smell after 24 hours). When applied properly, it shouldn't fill the fret slots. Most of the oil soaks into the wood and then polymerizes into a durable finish that is part of the wood, sealing the pores and providing a breathable finish.
For unfinished CBG necks and wooden boxes, I use spray Deft. Adds some great depth to the wood.
John
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