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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2010 8:23 am 
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Contributing Member
Contributing Member

Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2010 2:58 am
Posts: 31
First name: David
Last Name: Mrozinski
City: Essexville
State: MI
Zip/Postal Code: 48732
Country: USA
Focus: Build
Status: Amateur
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


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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2010 1:09 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Fri Nov 03, 2006 6:50 pm
Posts: 2711
Location: Victoria, BC
First name: John
Last Name: Abercrombie
Status: Amateur
djmrozinski wrote:
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.


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...)

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

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


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PostPosted: Sun May 23, 2010 9:36 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 7:13 am
Posts: 3270
Location: United States
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......


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PostPosted: Mon May 24, 2010 6:40 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:25 pm
Posts: 2749
Location: Netherlands
Peghead gets the same finish as the rest of the guitar, as a rule, fingerboard and bridge get buffed but are left unfinished.


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