Official Luthiers Forum!

Getting close to completing the first guitar. I have a peghead with ebony peghead veneer and a simple inlay set. Do I just finish over the inlay and the peghead with my top finish or do I need to seal the inlay. I am going to use Tru-oil for the finish.

Second question, on an ebony fretboard, should that receive some finish or just sand and buff out??

Sorry for the simple questions

Thanks
Dave

Dave-
Congrats on getting close to completing your first.!
I think Tru-Oil is usually applied as a pretty 'thin' finish, so you want to make sure you have a nice flat surface (so check around your inlays with a good light, and try to blow out any dust..) As long as the surface is good and smooth, it should look great under finish-ebony is one of the best woods in this respect, I've found. CA or epoxy can be good for filling in small defects. (Headstocks are quite busy places with tuners , strings, etc so some small defects near the tuners will be hidden...)


A good sanding job (to 320 grit?) before fretting does it for me, then just fingerboard 'oil' after the fret work is complete. A 'shoeshine' with a soft rag before stringing up gets rid of excess oil.
Be careful with buffing, as you can round over the fingerboard edges between frets (not good) if you are over-enthusiastic or have a quick cutting compound on the buffer.

Ebony is a great wood-except for the 'coal miner look' you can get when sanding!
Cheers
John

I finish with tru-oil over shellac on all my guitars, except for the ebony bridge, FB, and peghead; on these parts I use stewmac fretboard oil and buff.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Peghead gets the same finish as the rest of the guitar, as a rule, fingerboard and bridge get buffed but are left unfinished.