BLO or Tung Oil?

[Nick Sorenson]

I'd like to find a finish that will have a pretty thin build. Really I'm not sure what I'm after but I want to give an instrument fingerboard a finished look. The problem is that it really can't be lacquered because it will wear off. Any suggestions?

[Dave Gaul]

Not sure oil will give you the "finished look" you are looking for, oil will deepen the color of the wood & "pop" the grain...

I would try BLO (much cheaper than real tung oil and has same effect) followed by a wax buff, you can use bri wax, johnson paste wax, or a custom blend with bee's wax... you will get a nice faint sheen from the wax... and you can easily re-apply the wax whenever you want...

Disclaimer: I have NEVER constructed any type of musical instrument, but I have used BLO & wax on wood!

[Chris Fournier]

Lemon or orange oil will give you a very nice finished look to a well prepared rosewood or ebony fingerboard. They are very light oils and can be used to clean the fingerboard too! I use this on my guitars on a regular basis.

[Prashun Patel]

What material is the fingerboard. If it's rosewood, a lot of people use lemon oil. If lemon oil works, then mineral and tung oil are fine choices too. The mineral and lemon oils won't 'dry'; but will provide some measure of moisture protection and will need to be reapplied every so often. All of these oils will slow the fingerboard from 'drying out'.

[Nick Sorenson]

Thanks for the replies everyone who's commented.

What material is the fingerboard. If it's rosewood, a lot of people use lemon oil. If lemon oil works, then mineral and tung oil are fine choices too. The mineral and lemon oils won't 'dry'; but will provide some measure of moisture protection and will need to be reapplied every so often. All of these oils will slow the fingerboard from 'drying out'.

In many cases the fingerboard is rosewood. I've heard lots of people use Lemon Oil to slick up a board a bit. I've tried pledge in the past and it seems like it doesn't leave it's effect for long. But I'm not sure it's a true lemon oil.

[Jim Becker]

Try to avoid "Pledge" in any way, shape or form, especially around your shop and woodworking projects...it contains silicone which can be the bain of finishing for nearly "forever", causing contamination that is hard to eliminate.

[John Coloccia]

Why not just buff it? if you've never tried it, I think you will be rather pleasantly surprised at just how shinny buffed rosewood is. Ebony and cocobolo shine up very nicely too!

As usual, if you do this, try it on scrap first to be sure it's what you're after. Polished frets and fingerboards are a thing of beauty, though.

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> The mineral and lemon oils won't 'dry';

That's because most supermarket "Lemon Oil" is nothing more than mineral oil with a little lemon odorant.

[Howard Acheson]

I'd like to find a finish that will have a pretty thin build. Really I'm not sure what I'm after but I want to give an instrument fingerboard a finished look. The problem is that it really can't be lacquered because it will wear off. Any suggestions?

Neither BLO or Tung Oil is a durable finish. Lacquer is much more durable but I am not musically inclined so I don't know what is best to recommend.

There are a number of forums where instrument building and repairs are subjects. You might want to get hooked up with one of those.

[Chris Fournier]

This is an instance where you don't want a drying oil. It would get very grubby in short order.

Lacquer would be entirely inappropriate on either rosewood or ebony. Many cheap dyed maple fingerboards are lacquered to keep the colour intact, don't emmulate this travesty.

Lemon or orange oil is the ticket over a highly polished fingerboard as it is less viscous than straight mineral oil, penetrates nicely and smells like serious maintenance has been done!

The oil will also darken up a fingerboard and make it look a bit "richer" in my opinion. It can hide grey streaks in ebony if you find them objectionable.