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Hi,

I made a pickgaurd from Cocobolo. This wood is stunning but I have no idea how to finish it? How would I have to go by to get a high gloss finish on this wood? The oils in this wood makes it nearly impossible to finish it. Will nitrocellulose Lacquer work?

Thank you

Nitro works fine on cocobolo, just pore fill etc as normal and go for it. I thought wooden pick guards were often left unfinished, though?

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Teanb welcome to the OLF!

Finishing cocobolo can be a exercise in frustration - it is highly dependent on the oil content of the particular piece you have. So there are pieces where normal finishing techniques will work just fine, but others where nothing seems to work.

I've tried just about everything on oily cocobolo - oil finishes, nitro, polyurethane, and catalyzed finishes. Forget any oil finish, it will never dry. The others can sometimes work, but if they don't - they will remain tacky, and you can just strip it and try something else. Using McFadden's rosewood sealer underneath the clear coat will help tremendously.

Without the rosewood sealer, the only stuff I've gotten to work reliably is catalyzed urethane and pre-cat conversion varnish - but be aware that if you don't completely cover your skin (long sleeves, gloves, carbon-filter respirator) and spray with proper ventilation, the fumes will kill you faster than crack.

If it were me, I'd leave it unfinished and just work through the grits and buff it out. It will buff to a pretty nice shine, and then it is an easy job to remove pick scratches whenever you decide it needs it. Also think about backing it (laminating) with something so that it doesn't warp as the temp and humidity changes.

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

Nitro, or other finishes should be fine. Nothing magic here, you just need to wipe it first with naphtha, then do any fill you might want and sand back to wood. Wipe again and shoot a coat or two of vinyl sealer. Shellac is as good too. Once it is sealed with either of those pretty much any finish you want can go on top.

FWIW,
Alan D.

Oil finishes work on cocobolo, the trick is to either seal with shellac before applying the oil or varnish, or seal with a thinned version of the varnish, wipe off, let dry and repeat if necessary.
If the varnish is applied directly on the wood it eventually dries, but it can take well over a week.
Cocobolo is oily: it looks beautiful buffed, that's what I would do on a pickguard.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

Here is my thought on a hardwood pick guard. The intent of a pick guard is to avoid marring the finish on the guitar and to eliminate wear on the softwood top. If you put a topcoat finish on a hardwood pick guard then you will be scratching that finish if you aggressively flat pick. If you were to use lemon or boiled linseed oil and buff the wood itself to a high sheen rather applying a topcoat finish it would be easier to restore this sheen on a regular basis as pick marring dulls it with out having to do refinish work.

"lemon oil" polishes (which do not contain the oil of lemons) are not really finishes at all. They clean and leave a temporary sheen before completely evaporating. Boiled linseed can have bad reactions with oily tropical woods; I don't see how it would add much to just buffing the cocobolo.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Hey Howard I have not ever had any issues with boild linseed on any woods. What issue can it cause on various tropicals? I do agree though that just a burnishing or buffing is a good idea

Water based lacquer works real nice on cocobolo.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Michael, the natural oils in some tropical woods can keep linseed or other oils from drying. They can also react to cause white crud coming to the surface, which may not happen for a few months, and then can keep happening for years. This has happened to me with Bolivian rosewood (not a dalbergia). Apparently most dalbergias don't do this, but having seen it, I am wary.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Thanks Howard