Steel wool and ebony...

[AndrewG]

I want to give my frets a good polish, for which I will use varying grit grades of fret eraser, followed by steel wool for the final polish. My LL16 has an ebony 'board; will the steel wool polish it to a shine also, or should I mask it off? I'm not concerned about shiny ebony (could be a bonus in the looks department), only about potentially doing something to my fretboard that I didn't want to.
Thank you.

[fmbstrummer]

Andrew. Try this: http://www.gorgomyte.com/

Gorgomyte is a pre-treated, cleaner / polishing cloth. It is easily purchased on line. I purchased from StewMac.

FMB

[charles Tauber]

It depends upon how high a gloss to which you want to "polish" your frets. I'd lose the "fret eraser" and start with 0000 steel wool. If the fingerboard is really gunky, 000 steel wool, then 0000. ALWAYS rub along the length of the fingerboard parallel to the strings: rubbing parallel to the frets will leave cross-grain scratches in the fingerboard. The 0000 steel wool will leave a clean satin gloss to the fingerboard and frets. If you want the frets shinier than that, you can use progressively finer "sandpaper" such as that made by Micro-Mesh that go up to 12000 grit.

You could also use a small buffing wheel in a Dremel with progressively finer abrasive pastes, working along each fret. To do that you should mask the fingerboard with masking tape.

You could also do the same with a large buffing wheel and abrasives, but that's probably beyond the home do-it-yourselfer.

[AndrewG]

Originally Posted by fmbstrummer

Andrew. Try this: http://www.gorgomyte.com/

Gorgomyte is a pre-treated, cleaner / polishing cloth. It is easily purchased on line. I purchased from StewMac.

FMB

Thanks, I just read a couple of positive reviews and it sounds interesting, so I may investigate.

[ii Cybershot ii]

I keep steel wool away from my guitars now. That stuff is just a mess and invariably ends up in every nook and cranny it can find.

I use 12000 grit micro-mesh pads for the final polish and it certainly can't get shinier than that.

The downside is the cost... steel wool is so cheap!

[redir]

You can use magnets to clean up the steel wool dust

0000 steel wool will clean up your fretboard nicely. I do like the polishing cloths as was mentioned above too.

[John Arnold]

i use 0000 steel wool on fingerboards most every day in the shop.

[Christian Reno]

Originally Posted by redir

You can use magnets to clean up the steel wool dust

0000 steel wool will clean up your fretboard nicely. I do like the polishing cloths as was mentioned above too.

Very good point. I've used 0000 steel wool for a very long time on frets and many other wood working projects where a perfect finish is the goal. A strong magnet will get all of the steel wool residue.

[stringjunky]

Wouldn't one of the Scotchbrite variants be suitable?

[redir]

I forgot to mention, I wrap the magnets in a cloth and just scoop up the area, then you can remove the cloth over a trash can and shake it out. It's a PIA to pick the dust off the magnets themselves.

[Rudy4]

I've been using 0000 steel wool for almost 50 years for fret board buffing and it works fine. (Do follow Charles Tauber's use recommendations).

Although it's generally safe to use the common hardware store stuff I always recommend purchasing Liberon brand. It is manufactured to higher standards and has been cleansed of residual oils. If anyone doubts that it is superior, please try it for yourself. I purchase the large rolls and use it exclusively in my shop. Smaller quantities are easy to find.

https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/...lwool100g.aspx

[fazool]

Steel wool leaves metal dust everywhere. I switched to scotchbrite pads and am very pleased with the results

[stringjunky]

Originally Posted by fazool

Steel wool leaves metal dust everywhere. I switched to scotchbrite pads and am very pleased with the results

Which ones did you use?

[fazool]

Red - the industrial versions. In a pinch you can use the green kitchen ones but they aren't very abrasive

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by stringjunky2

Wouldn't one of the Scotchbrite variants be suitable?

They will work, sure. I've tried them and don't find them as effective as the steel versions.

Liberon brand of steel wool is made of long steel strands and sheds comparatively very little and is what I've used for a long time.