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Bog oak fretboard?

#22
HaMMerHeD said:
Walnut is a fine fingerboard material.

I am also looking at building ecologically responsible basses. Here in the US, that basically means I have walnut if I want a dark-colored fingerboard. But that's not a bad thing, as I see it. There are few woods more beautiful than a well-worked and finished piece of chocolate brown west coast Walnut.
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Glad to hear it about walnut being fretboard approved, and that there are others with the same idea.
How is walnut in terms of density? Rosewood is fine, but I'd prefer something more ebony-ish.

line6man said:
What you want is plain Black Walnut.
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If you say so, I'm not familiar with different subspecies. Adrian told me he gets his walnut from the Caucasian region, which is about as far as I'm willing to have materials shipped from.
A painted maple board is still among the options, though.
 
#23
LennyPenny said:
Glad to hear it about walnut being fretboard approved, and that there are others with the same idea.
How is walnut in terms of density? Rosewood is fine, but I'd prefer something more ebony-ish.
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Walnut is dense and heavy, and somewhat open-grained. In that way, it is similar to rosewood. It has a spicy aroma when worked, and in my experience, has been easy to work. If you want the silky smooth texture of ebony, use ebony. If you are satisfied with an approximation of it, use something reasonably hard (like walnut), and hit it with a grain filler.

The American varieties tend to exhibit coarser grain texture than European varieties, such as English Walnut.
 
#25
line6man said:
I turned a pen out of ancient bog oak once. I don't know what species of oak it was, but it was pretty much like working with ordinary oak, except that it was black like Ebony. As far as I could tell, it was no harder or different to sand and polish.

Personally, I can't stand the concept of an open grained wood like oak or wenge being used as a fretboard or fingerboard, but that's just me. If you're not opposed to unnatural appearances, you could easily apply a dye or stain to some other wood with the feel you prefer. Or you could paint Maple black, if you're not opposed to a finished fretboard.
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If you looked at the end grain, did it look like it had little holes, or was the end closed? Red Oak is like grabbing a hand full of straws- it's a series of tubes and if you set a piece of Rad Oak in water, it will wick up into the wood. White oak construction is completely different and it's one of the reasons that it's better for use in wet locations. It also has different chemistry but both have high tannic acid content, which is why yours was black- yours was in soil with high iron content. Iron and ferrous metal scraps have been used for hundreds of years to stain oak. If you want to try this, put some water & vinegar in a glass jar, then put some iron or steel in it. Nails and screws work well. Let it sit for a week, stirring it occasionally. Once the metal has rusted, dip a rag in it and wipe it on a piece of oak and watch the color change.
 
#27
Teacher said:
For those not familiar, bog oak isn't a species of oak; it's oak that was buried in bogs centuries ago and was both preserved and colored by the acidic peate.
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This won't help the OP at all but I believe a bog oak was used by a fairy to perform a sad bit of magic in the delightful book Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by British writer Susanna Clarke. If you are a Harry Potter fan and an adult you might find it to be an engaging book.

Ken
 
#30
1958Bassman said:
If you looked at the end grain, did it look like it had little holes, or was the end closed? Red Oak is like grabbing a hand full of straws- it's a series of tubes and if you set a piece of Rad Oak in water, it will wick up into the wood. White oak construction is completely different and it's one of the reasons that it's better for use in wet locations. It also has different chemistry but both have high tannic acid content, which is why yours was black- yours was in soil with high iron content. Iron and ferrous metal scraps have been used for hundreds of years to stain oak. If you want to try this, put some water & vinegar in a glass jar, then put some iron or steel in it. Nails and screws work well. Let it sit for a week, stirring it occasionally. Once the metal has rusted, dip a rag in it and wipe it on a piece of oak and watch the color change.
Click to expand...

People "ebonize" oak with Potassium Dichromate, too. Personally, I wouldn't fool around with the stuff, but it is a good way to darken wood.
 
#32
line6man said:
Personally, I can't stand the concept of an open grained wood like oak or wenge being used as a fretboard or fingerboard, but that's just me. If you're not opposed to unnatural appearances, you could easily apply a dye or stain to some other wood with the feel you prefer.
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Me, too. I've stained less than good looking maple and rosewood fret boards with black leather dye and no overcoat. Penetrates well and is VERY durable. The color can be lightened by rubbing it with a cloth barely damp with lacquer thinner after it dries. It needs to be hand buffed really well after it dries for a few days to remove all excess that didn't sink in or you'll have black finger tips for days. Wear gloves when applying.

I've also found no clearcoat that doesn't have good adhesion if it's allowed to thoroughly dry for a few days after buffing.

mech

edit: easy to touch up if you get a ding.
 

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