Fretless Fingerboard Finish...

[Hobastard]

All this reading about your builds has stirred my enthusiasm and while I'm saving up my pennies for a kit I am getting motivated to refurbish my Old Fretless. I've had this old girl for note than Thirty Years and she needs some lovin'.....

Having read a couple of passing remarks to the use of CA Glue as a fingerboard finish, I'm thinking that this might be the way to go, and after much scouring of the forum and youtoob, I have found very little information.
All input and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

From: Where do I get it?
To: How do I do it?
And of course: What should I look out for?

As well as other preferred methods. I am keen to learn.....

[wokkaboy]

Hey Hoby, I use thin CA superglue from Stewmac. I have tried ragging it on but the rag can get really hot, so I would get a fairly small paintbrush and use that to wipe over the fingerboard. Give the FB a good sand with a radius block before applying the CA glue.
Usually 2 coats of glue is enough. Give each coat it at least 24 hours to fully cure. Then about 1200 grit sand to smooth out the FB surface. Do you know what radius the FB is ?

Use a couple of layers of masking tape on the edge of the fingerboard so the glue doesn't run and drip all over the side of the FB and down the neck

here's the link to the glue it's the #10 one. Worth getting at least 2 bottles as it comes in handy for other repairs

http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and...uper_Glue.html

[Hobastard]

Awesome, thanks. I saw a wood turning guy using a type of CA that didn't go off until he applied an activator, any ideas on this stuff???

[wokkaboy]

Hey Hoby, not sure haven't heard of that product. The Stewmac thin superglue takes at least 20- 30 seconds (depending on weather) to start hardening so you will have enough time to brush it over the whole FB as flat as you can to minimise sanding it flat. The brush you use will be a throw away job so don't spend heaps on it !

Some have used clear epoxy resin and that only hardens when you mix the epoxy with the hardener and that can take days to fully harden

[WeirdBits]

What is the fretboard made of and what's been used to treat it over the years?

[Hobastard]

Its an Ebony Fingerboard, still with the original coating on it. I'm assuming that it is an Epoxy, like the Body. It has worn through in a few places and there is only minimal wear to the Ebony itself. There's plenty of meat on the bone, so a good sand isn't going to hurt it. At one point I needed Fretted Bass with a good Growl, and my Jazz Bass didn't do it for me, so I got it Fretted. It worked at the time but I soon wanted my Old Girl Back. So I had a local Luthier de fret her again. He used some kind of filler in the slots but didn't refinish the board. Some of the filler has crumbled, so I am hoping to fix that with ebony sawdust and superglue......

[Simon Barden]

You should be able to get thin superglue from more local eBay sellers rather than StewMac. I've got several bottles of it. Beware, it has very little surface tension (so penetrates cracks easily) and so it fills nice and flat (unlike more viscous glues where the surface tension pulls the glue down into dips), but it is very, very runny. Did I say it's runny? Well it is. Very. It will run and run, so definitely tape up the rest of the neck and rest the neck off any surface so that it doesn't get stuck to it. Lots of old newspaper down to soak up the runs.

I've found it can actually take a lot longer to set than 20-30 seconds, so just leave it for a long time and don't be tempted to touch it with your fingers to check - or you may get stuck!. CA can be set off with moisture, so gently breathing on it will help. One of your humid days will probably be ideal for getting it set fairly quickly.

[Hobastard]

Thanks heaps Simon. I like as much information as possible before I try something new... Managed to find a YouTube video today as well. I must say I am very impressed with the finish.....

[Brendan]

Local woodwork shops will also have superglue in a range of thicknesses. Superglue reacts with cotton (I've burnt myself with a cotton rag and superglue) - hence Wokka's comment re: getting hot. Best thing to use to spread superglue is an old credit card or small piece of plastic. As Simon says, its generally very thin and will run like crazy, but becomes hard to work quickly, so you need to work fairly quickly. Apply in many thin layers to give a nice consistency, sanding back every couple until you get to the level you like. Superglue reacts with water even from your breath and can go cloudy. Best bet is to let it dry naturally out of the wind and in a dry area. Don't rush and you should be right. Also remember it does degas with something that smells nasty and toxic - so make sure your work area is well ventilated and don't get too close to the board as you apply. Overall sounds harder than it is - its not too hard to do.

[wazkelly]

A few of us did fretless necks last year using CA glue with the red label.

Highly toxic stuff and gives off wicked fumes. Not the easiest stuff to work with and on mine I reckon there was more than a dozen coats done before I had an even coverage all over the fret board. Not for the faint hearted and if I was to do it again I reckon I would follow what Robin did on his and use epoxy resin instead.