Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a customer wanting me to use a Ziricote fingerboard we found on his guitar. The fingerboard in it's natural state looks rather dull and nothing like the look the wood takes under finish. But this is a fingerboard and it won't have finish over it.

How do I make it look good?

I've seen others use Ziri for fingerboards and they look great - so what's the trick?

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P A U L B U R N E R
Burner Guitars

I usually sand my fretboards up to 600 grit. One fretted and the frets levelled and polished I buff with Menzerna brown, then buff the polish residue off with a clean cotton wheel. After this I wipe on and off some Howard's feed'n'wax, or a 1:1 solution of linseed oil and mineral spirits, or both.

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

Watco oil works nicely. So does several coats of Tru oil or Tung oil, if you want to quickly build up a bit of a shine.
Any oil you use will need to be refreshed regularly. I re-oil fretboards when I change strings.