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Double Bass Dressing a DB FB: recommended grit for final sanding

GretschWretch

GretschWretch

Supporting Member
Dec 27, 2013
12,449
25,120
East Central Alabama
#1
After a seeming eternity of filling, sanding, and scraping to bring a few low spots in a DB fingerboard up to flush, I think the FB is now gig-worthy. My question: what is the recommended sandpaper grit for the final sanding? Right now I am at 220, but I don't know if that is "fine" enough. I could go up as far as 1000.
 
#7
I go up to 800, then apply butcher block conditioner with fine steel wool. Looks amazing, feels amazing. I used to use boiled linseed oil, but I don't like adding weird toxic chemicals to something I'm going to be touching a lot. Natural linseed oil takes way too long to cure.
 
#9
ccmorgan said:
I go up to 800, then apply butcher block conditioner with fine steel wool. Looks amazing, feels amazing. I used to use boiled linseed oil, but I don't like adding weird toxic chemicals to something I'm going to be touching a lot. Natural linseed oil takes way too long to cure.
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Boiled linseed oil doesn't have to have chemical additives. Additive free one are available. Butcher block conditioner has they same additives you are trying to avoid.
 
#10
RSBBass said:
Boiled linseed oil doesn't have to have chemical additives. Additive free one are available. Butcher block conditioner has they same additives you are trying to avoid.
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If you know where I can find additive-free linseed oil, I’d definitely be interested.
The butcher block conditioner I use is food grade and there are no additives. Unless they’re lying.
 
#11
ccmorgan said:
If you know where I can find additive-free linseed oil, I’d definitely be interested.
The butcher block conditioner I use is food grade and there are no additives. Unless they’re lying.
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atlaspreservation.com

Pure Swedish Boiled Linseed Oil

Pure Swedish Boiled Linseed Oil Swedish cold-pressed boiled linseed oil is of the highest quality. The oil is stored for at least 6 months after being pressed so that any slime products may settle. The oil is then heated to 140⁰C for seven days. It is a natural treatment without any chemical...
atlaspreservation.com atlaspreservation.com
 
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#12
is fingerboard oil really indicated for uprights? i've long ago sworn it off for guitars, most of it is just inert mineral oil that doesn't do anything useful or it's drying oil that leaves a hard finish over the wood (which i don't want)
GretschWretch said:
My question: what is the recommended sandpaper grit for the final sanding?
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something i got hipped to with final-sanding dense woods like rosewood or ebony is that after each sanding step, even after you've done your best to clean off and even vacuum up the dust, there's still dust all in the wood grain that gets in the way of the next finer grit paper

the trick is to sand, vacuum, then thoroughly wipe the board with a naphtha-soaked towel! you'll be surprised how much stuff comes up on that towel, and naphtha evaporates away without swelling the wood like water. do that a couple times before proceeding to the next finer grit and you can get a much prettier board at the end

with ebony, even using the "naphtha rinse" steps after each grit i can't see going beyond 600
 
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#13
walterw said:
... the trick is to sand, vacuum, then thoroughly wipe the board with a naphtha-soaked towel! you'll be surprised how much stuff comes up on that towel, and naphtha evaporates away without swelling the wood like water. do that a couple times before proceeding to the next finer grit and you can get a much prettier board at the end

with ebony, even using the "naphtha rinse" steps after each grit i can't see going beyond 600
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Agreed with all of the above, except after this I like to put on a coat of linseed oil with 0000 fine steel wool. IMO it makes the ebony look darker and more even.

Also, just curious about how inert/enviro-friendly naptha is. I wipe the board with everclear. It evaporates super quickly and, if the dressing isn't going well, I can also have a taste. ;)
 
#14
eh_train said:
Also, just curious about how inert/enviro-friendly naptha is. I wipe the board with everclear. It evaporates super quickly and, if the dressing isn't going well, I can also have a taste. ;)
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neat! never tried that but i guess the principle is the same

naphtha is not something you want to breathe but the good stuff evaporates away entirely, leaving nothing behind. it's also entirely finish-safe, while alcohol can attack nitro lacquer

do you have access to the real 190 proof everclear where you are? i'm in virginia, we can only get the 151 stuff without special permits (i know this because in the early days of the pandemic when rubbing alcohol disappeared from store shelves, it turned out 151 ethanol from the liquor store worked just as well for sanitizing)
 
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#16
Regarding solvents, at the last ISB there was a front facing brouhaha when one of the vendors in the convention hall started using xylene to clean something and stank up the whole hall, causing much lung irritation at a surprising distance and a bunch of neighboring booth occupants to become highly upset. I guess it’s fine to do what you want in your own shop, but when others are around it’s probably best to avoid the highly toxic stuff.
 
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#17
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Regarding solvents, at the last ISB there was a front facing brouhaha when one of the vendors in the convention hall started using xylene to clean something and stank up the whole hall, causing much lung irritation at a surprising distance and a bunch of neighboring booth occupants to become highly upset. I guess it’s fine to do what you want in your own shop, but when others are around it’s probably best to avoid the highly toxic stuff.
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I have no first hand experience with it, but xylene is a known carcinogen. Nasty stuff, apparently. That seems like a very insensitive move by the vendor you mentioned.
 
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#18
Chris Fitzgerald said:
... at the last ISB there was a front facing brouhaha when one of the vendors in the convention hall started using xylene ...
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Would've loved to have witnessed said brouhaha. At least it didn't devolve into a no-holds-barred luthier donnybrook.

Oh, the humanity!
 
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