• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Oil on rosewood fingerboard

#41
Linseed oil, boiled or NOT, is not highly flammable. In fact, it's pretty hard to ignite. If you dropped a lit match into a cup of it the match would go out. However, it can combust spontaneously if you leave a rag soaked in it wadded up somewhere. So for this reason, any cloths soaked in linseed oil should either be spread out to dry outside or soaked in water before going in the disposal bin.

If you attempt to boil your own linseed oil, it can be flammable when hot enough, so it's not something you should do on a stove inside. To really make raw linseed oil hot enough to cure like boiled linseed oil you need to get it up to about 400F.

The boiled linseed oil sold in hardware stores is not really boiled anymore. It has metallic driers added to it so that it will harden, but they call it boiled because that's the way it was first treated to make it an oil that would harden. It's still used in some paints and as a woodworking finish.

If you use boiled linseed oil on a fingerboard, wipe some on, let it soak in a few minutes, then wipe it dry with a dry cloth. Don't leave any sitting on the surface. You shouldn't have to apply it more than once a year. It soaks into the wood and hardens, thereby waterproofing the wood to a certain degree.

Don't use olive oil or any other cooking oil. It won't harden and will turn rancid after a while.

Lemon oil, which is mineral oil with yellow dye and citrus scent added (and sometimes a bit of wax) does not harden in the wood .Nothing wrong with using it on rosewood. Twice a year should be enough. It evaporates after a long while.Johnsons Baby Oil is mineral oil with perfume added. You can use it too.

I prefer boiled linseed oil myself.

This is a topic that comes up about once a month with the same replies each time. I don't know why we bother answering it anymore.
Each person uses and swears by their favourite concoction and claims their own is superior.

I'm surprised nobody has recommended castor oil yet.

I heard once about a guy who bought a sailboat with a beautiful teak deck. The brochure said it should be oiled every year. So, not knowing he should have been using tung oil or boiled linseed oil,
he used motor oil. You can imagine the mess that made and how hard it was to get off.
 
#42
pin_head_47 said:
Lemon oil is fine for rosewood, IF you can find a good quality lemon oil. Alot of the stuff you buy nowadays has alot of other crap in it that you don't want - waxes, for example.

I've heard pure mineral oil recommended on here before, but I don't know how much easier that would be to find than good, pure lemon oil. Myself, I use Formby's Lemon Oil Treatment, and it seems to work ok. I got mine at Home Depot or Lowe's, but I think Wal-Fart has it too.
Click to expand...

The actual oil of the lemon is used for it's scent, not for it's "oil". What is sold as lemon oil for wood is actually mineral oil with added color, scent and drying agents. Initially, the wood looks great but after a few weeks it ends up looking dryer than before you started.

Oils like linseed oil are not inherently flammable but the rags used to apply them can cause spontaneous compustion. Put them in a ziplok bag and add some water and dispose of them quickly.

I do not find that linseed oil darkens the wood more than any other oil.

So again, my recommendations would be boiled linseed oil or mineral oil.

I found some additional information here:
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Roger
 
#45
Sadowsky said:
The actual oil of the lemon is used for it's scent, not for it's "oil". What is sold as lemon oil for wood is actually mineral oil with added color, scent and drying agents. Initially, the wood looks great but after a few weeks it ends up looking dryer than before you started.
Click to expand...

Hmm...lemon oil has never made any of my rosewood fretboards look drier after a few weeks. I've been using it for years with no problems. But whatever works for you is fine with me.
 
#46
Sadowsky said:
The actual oil of the lemon is used for it's scent, not for it's "oil". What is sold as lemon oil for wood is actually mineral oil with added color, scent and drying agents. Initially, the wood looks great but after a few weeks it ends up looking dryer than before you started.

Roger
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've heard this on here before I think; Most "lemon oils" aren't even lemon oil, but mineral oil with lemon scent added to it. I find the Formby's stuff to be fine tho.
 
#47
I have had GREAT luck with Watco Teak oil. It's made to penetrate and protect dense hardwoods and harden the wood.

I've been treating my fretboards with it for 10+ years now. After the first few years, my necks stopped shifting and giving me "fret sprout" every winter.

Every couple months, I wipe on a VERY thin coat, let it sit for 5 minutes, then buff it out.
 
#49
Superpang said:
SO, anyone know a oil good for cleaning Purpleheart? Something to bring the purple back out. My fretboard looks like rosewood :scowl:
Click to expand...

I'm assuming the wood's not lacquered or sealed in any way. If so - this is what I used to do restoring hardwood furniture:

  1. Mineral spirits - wipe on with a rag or paper towel. OPTIONAL - You can use superfine (0000 or 00000) steel wool to "scrub" along the grain if the neck is really dirty.

    CAUTION - mineral spirits is used to thin paint - be VERY careful at the headstock and heel end of the neck to not hit your finished wood.
  2. Wait 5-10 minutes. The mineral spirits will evaporate and the dirt in the wood will be wicked to the surface.
  3. Clean off the dirt - you can use a damp (not wet) paper towel or a rag for this. A little Dawn dish soap isn't a bad thing either.
  4. Boiled linseed oil - a little goes a very long way. Wipe on.

    CAUTION: Rags soaked in linseed oil can and will spontaneously combust - get the rag out of the house the minute you're done.

    Plan B would be to leave the rag in the house and head out for sticks and a bag of marshmallows. The linseed oil will bring the grain back out of the wood and restore the moisture the mineral spirits took out.

I used to do this process to restore the luster on hardwood Scandavian walnut furniture with excellent results.
 
#50
teleken said:
I'm assuming the wood's not lacquered or sealed in any way. If so - this is what I used to do restoring hardwood furniture:

  1. Mineral spirits - wipe on with a rag or paper towel. OPTIONAL - You can use superfine (0000 or 00000) steel wool to "scrub" along the grain if the neck is really dirty.

    CAUTION - mineral spirits is used to thin paint - be VERY careful at the headstock and heel end of the neck to not hit your finished wood.
  2. Wait 5-10 minutes. The mineral spirits will evaporate and the dirt in the wood will be wicked to the surface.
  3. Clean off the dirt - you can use a damp (not wet) paper towel or a rag for this. A little Dawn dish soap isn't a bad thing either.
  4. Boiled linseed oil - a little goes a very long way. Wipe on.

    CAUTION: Rags soaked in linseed oil can and will spontaneously combust - get the rag out of the house the minute you're done.

    Plan B would be to leave the rag in the house and head out for sticks and a bag of marshmallows. The linseed oil will bring the grain back out of the wood and restore the moisture the mineral spirits took out.

I used to do this process to restore the luster on hardwood Scandavian walnut furniture with excellent results.
Click to expand...


Sounds kind of dangerous :hmm: Would a setup include a fretboard cleaning?
 
#52
teleken said:
I'm assuming the wood's not lacquered or sealed in any way. If so - this is what I used to do restoring hardwood furniture:

  1. Mineral spirits - wipe on with a rag or paper towel. OPTIONAL - You can use superfine (0000 or 00000) steel wool to "scrub" along the grain if the neck is really dirty.

    CAUTION - mineral spirits is used to thin paint - be VERY careful at the headstock and heel end of the neck to not hit your finished wood.
  2. Wait 5-10 minutes. The mineral spirits will evaporate and the dirt in the wood will be wicked to the surface.
  3. Clean off the dirt - you can use a damp (not wet) paper towel or a rag for this. A little Dawn dish soap isn't a bad thing either.
  4. Boiled linseed oil - a little goes a very long way. Wipe on.

    CAUTION: Rags soaked in linseed oil can and will spontaneously combust - get the rag out of the house the minute you're done.

    Plan B would be to leave the rag in the house and head out for sticks and a bag of marshmallows. The linseed oil will bring the grain back out of the wood and restore the moisture the mineral spirits took out.

I used to do this process to restore the luster on hardwood Scandavian walnut furniture with excellent results.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is basically the same thing I do with oil finished furniture, like "teak oil", Swedish Oil, tung oil, etc. It works on unfinished fingerboards too.

Mineral spirits (paint thinner) will not damage the finish on a bass. It is true it is used to thin paints, varnishes, Watco type finishes etc. but it will not soften or remove a dried finish on a bass or piece of furniture. I've used it to clean varnished, shellaced, lacquered, and factory poly finishes for years and it does not harm them. Alcohol will damage nitro lacquer and shellac finishes, but will not hurt a properly cured varnish, oiled, or factory poly finish if just wiped on and wiped off when used for cleaning or de-waxing. It can stain varnish finishes if left on wet for a long time, but this is unlikely in normal use because it evaporates so quickly.

There's a lot of false information floating around on the internet and instrument forums about finishes used on instruments, just like there's lots of false information about "tube watts", underpowering, and dozens of other topics. This all stems from people not understanding something they read, altering the meaning of it, passing it along to others who alter it even further and then it's repeated so many times that it becomes accepted as the truth. It even gets printed in bass gear magazines and younger, impressionable players read it and think it must be the truth because it was written by "experts". Most bass players don't do any work with wood finishes so they don't know from experience what is true or false. A lot of the true data used to be taught in shop classes in school but it seems this isn't common anymore.

I'd believe what Roger Sadowsky and others who make instruments say. They work with finishes all the time and know what is true and false from experience and training.

Regarding oil soaked rags spontaneously combusting-yes, it is a danger. However, it's not going to happen in a couple minutes if you leave a rag soaked in oil alone. It takes more time than that. However, for safety's sake you should always dispose of them quickly, just so you don't forget and leave one wadded up somewhere overnight where it can spontaneously combust. Soaking them in water after use and storing in a ziplock bag for disposal later works. Or you can spread them out to dry outdoors. Once dry they pose no danger and can be disposed of in the trash.
 
#53
62bass said:
Linseed oil, boiled or NOT, is not highly flammable. In fact, it's pretty hard to ignite. If you dropped a lit match into a cup of it the match would go out. However, it can combust spontaneously if you leave a rag soaked in it wadded up somewhere. So for this reason, any cloths soaked in linseed oil should either be spread out to dry outside or soaked in water before going in the disposal bin.

If you use boiled linseed oil on a fingerboard, wipe some on, let it soak in a few minutes, then wipe it dry with a dry cloth. Don't leave any sitting on the surface. You shouldn't have to apply it more than once a year. It soaks into the wood and hardens, thereby waterproofing the wood to a certain degree.

I prefer boiled linseed oil myself.

This is a topic that comes up about once a month with the same replies each time. I don't know why we bother answering it anymore.
.
Click to expand...


;) I totally agree
 
#55
I used lemon oil on my rosewood boards for over 10 years. I thought it worked fine, but sometimes would dry out too quickly in less humid conditions.

I recently switched to boiled linseed oil. (influenced in no small part by TB posts) I'll never use lemon oil again! Nothing against the lemon oil, but the linseed really lasts much longer & leaves a more lustrous finish.
 
#59
I use Dr. Duck's on my Ebony boards and I have a Luthier friend who uses warm Coconut oil for Rosewood and Ebony with good results if you are careful to wipe off all the excess oil. Apparently a little goes a long way.

George
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back