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I'm finishing my neck with tru-oil and have applied three coats so far. It looks and feels great on the mahogany neck. I thought it might be nice on the FB also, so I applied it there too. Well, it made my beautiful ebony look like plastic. Does anyone know a good/easy way to remove it from the ebony FB? Will toluene do it without hurting the glue bond (titebond) of the FB to the neck, or do I just need to start sanding?

Ron old man38709.0052083333

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

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

Ron

I've been experimenting with Tru oil, and when not fully dry White Spirit works, not sure if this works on dried Truoil.

Ron,

Figerboards are not a good place for Tru-oil!! I usually put nothing on them and leave them for the natural "finger oils" to keep them looking good.

The easiest way to remove it is probably just to sand it off combined with some delicate scraping. Do it nice and gently and change the paper often as it will clog with the finish fairly easily. Take your time and it will all come off with little to no removal of the board wood itself. If the fingerboard was a rosewood one rather than ebony, then getting it out of the pores may have ben be a little trickier.

Tru-oil I think is a sort of wiping varnish, so varnish removers may work as well but I think sanding gives you more control.

You could always go to the Birchwood Casey website and e-mail them.

Hope you like the Tru-oil on the neck, it is a great feel.Dave White38709.4452662037

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Thanks, Dave and Russell. I don't know why I said toluene in my post, I meant naptha. anyway,

Russell, what is white spirit? Is that turpentine or kerosene?

Dave, I appreciate the gentle admonishment. I agree. The ebony was beautiful to begin with. It's my first and I'm trying to make all my mistakes on this one.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

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

[QUOTE=old man]
It's my first and I'm trying to make all my mistakes on this one. [/QUOTE]
Ron,

Speaking as someone currently making number 21, that is a very ambitious target

White spirit is closer to turpentine than kerosene, but it will have little impact on dried Tru-oil I suspect. How many coats do you have on the fingerboard? If it's just 3 then gentle sanding off won't be a big deal at all. Just be a little carefull near the edges so that you don't disturb the Tru-oil on the sides of the neck.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Thanks, Dave. Only two coats on the FB. I'm going to let it dry a little more then scrape and sand. I suspect a razor blade would be the best tool for that.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

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