#1
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Anybody use this type of polishing wheel on a fretboard rehab?
After cleaning and oiling a fretboard why not use this type of polishing wheel on a drill instead of hand wiping with a rag?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FREE-SHIP-ON...item485eddd597 I thought I would give it a try but would like to know if anyone else has tried it. I only rehab low end guitars, FYI. Thanks.
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John ------------------------- Alvarez Yairi DY 57 1978 Yamaha FG-110 Yamaha FG-160 Yamaha FG-180 Yamaha FG-800 Fender partscaster Fender MIM Jazz Bass Five old dead basses awaiting resuscitation |
#2
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Bryan |
#3
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2. What are you trying to accomplish? What "polishing" does a "low end" guitar's fingerboard need? Seems like over-kill. As long as you "polish" with the grain of the wood, it won't do any harm. Be certain the guitar is well secured and that you don't catch fret ends or fingerboard corners with the spinning wheel - if you do, it'll do more harm that good. |
#4
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John, if you go ahead with this, I suggest masking up the guitar body around the fretboard extension, to avoid inadvertently buffing the top.
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Tony D http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...?bandID=784456 http://www.flickr.com/photos/done_family/ |
#5
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Thanks for the advice. Charles, some of the guitars I have rehabbed had fretboards that were so dried out, you could see they had shrunk and cracked...I'm guessing these were left in the sun or over heat registers! I sand these, and then apply a light coat of lemon oil (or two or three) and then buff them...I know it seems like a waste on a low end guitar, but I enjoy the process of taking a fretboard from disaster to a nice smooth finish. Tony thanks for the tip about catching a fret ....could be a serious setback.
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John ------------------------- Alvarez Yairi DY 57 1978 Yamaha FG-110 Yamaha FG-160 Yamaha FG-180 Yamaha FG-800 Fender partscaster Fender MIM Jazz Bass Five old dead basses awaiting resuscitation |
#6
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John,
That wheel will work just fine in a variable speed drill...at lower speeds. Let the oil soak in a while before using the buffing wheel. I just use a cotton T-shirt scrap and have found that my fretboards might need oiling every four years or so. And very sparingly at that.
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Dan Carey (not Crary) A couple of guitars A Merida DG16 Classical Guitar A couple of banjos A Yueqin A Mountain Dulcimer that I built A Hammered Dulcimer that I'm currently building And a fiddle that I built! Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. |
#7
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John ------------------------- Alvarez Yairi DY 57 1978 Yamaha FG-110 Yamaha FG-160 Yamaha FG-180 Yamaha FG-800 Fender partscaster Fender MIM Jazz Bass Five old dead basses awaiting resuscitation |
#8
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if you must buff to a high gloss, why not try a dremel and a more manageable wheel then that beast?
i once saw a gibson employee tossing a les paul around in the air and behind his back like a harlem globe trotter in between stabs at the 24" buffing wheel. you'll need to handle that thing carefully or you'll have an "incident" -unless you work at gibson that is. |
#9
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I have developed my own technique for fretboard refinishing and it works very well (for me).
I am no good at scraping wood for finishing. I know its a better method than sanding but I haven't gotten the hang of it yet on big surfaces like soundboards. On fretboards, however, I am very successful with it. I scrap my fingerboards, instead of sanding. It gives a much better finish. I can also scrape between frets without removing fretwire. I find that this is a very highly technique dependent method. For some inexplicable reason, I got the hang of this and find it works very well (for me). I have a very specific method I apply to do it but its hard to explain. Essentially, I scrap parallel to the grain with an un-burnished single edge razor blade, back and forth, from fret-wire to fret-wire, slow and steady at first, angle-flipping the blade half-way through the travel. Then, light and fast to finish. I then finish wiping with scotchbrite. The great thing about this is that it generates just enough exact matching filler dust in case I have any divots or defects or cracks that need filling in.
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Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter" Taylor GC7, GA3-12, SB2-C, SB2-Cp...... Ibanez AVC-11MHx , AC-240 |
#10
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I always buff the frets and usually the board as well after a fret job or refret. It's how I learned it 43 years ago, and how I have done it ever since. If it's a refret or new guitar, the board is sanded to 600 and taped while the frets are sanded to 600. Then I pull the tape, and then I buff. Brown Tripoli compound for acoustics; for electrics I follow that with white or blue rouge. For a more traditional look and feel to the wood, I will leave the board taped when buffing.
I buff with the frets, across the board. Never a problem with catching the buff under the fret end. Leaves no cross grain scratches. I then clean any excess compound off with a light furniture oil (not an oil finish), and wipe off any excess oil. Players love the feel of a polished fret. Never a complaint.
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"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon Last edited by Howard Klepper; 02-17-2014 at 04:38 PM. |
#11
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Wow, it's interesting to hear about all the many different ways there are to accomplish the seemingly simple job of a fretboard rehab. Thanks everyone.
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John ------------------------- Alvarez Yairi DY 57 1978 Yamaha FG-110 Yamaha FG-160 Yamaha FG-180 Yamaha FG-800 Fender partscaster Fender MIM Jazz Bass Five old dead basses awaiting resuscitation |
#12
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[accidental duplicate post]
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"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon Last edited by Howard Klepper; 02-18-2014 at 01:04 AM. |
#13
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I don't know what the phrase "fretboard rehab" means. I was talking about refretting or leveling and shaping. You appear to be talking about cleaning and oiling. I can see no reason to wipe up your excess oil with a buffing wheel if that is all you have done. And I don't oil fretboards other than to use a light oily hydrocarbon (that evaporates off) such as "lemon oil polish" as a cleaner.
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"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon Last edited by Howard Klepper; 02-18-2014 at 01:05 AM. |