Just spotted this post @clinton.....everyone’s always finniting....it never stops.

@clinton I’ve been finniting this neck today, spent ages on it. 

Pau Ferro? How did you load the picture? I thought that pics  are unable to load on the website at the moment.

Pau Ferro? How did you load the picture? I thought that pics  are unable to load on the website at the moment.

@clinton No it’s ebony. I just loaded the pictures in the usual way and it worked. 

Hi very nice grain on that fretboard. My ebony fretboard blank just arrived today rough cut much cheaper, needs planing and thicknessing. First time using ebony. Any tips? Density? Blades dulling? Fret insertion? After much practice builds and quite surprisingly successful thanks to Mark and Carol now I am finally ready! I finally enrolled in the course and on my way to make my first Bandsman with quality lumber arriving any day now finally. My goal is to be just as competent as all you guys, long time Bailey students and eventually fulfill an acoustic build as well. Cannot wait, haste had always been my nemesis. Haha 

. First tim

I thought that pics  are unable to load on the website at the moment.

Pics / attachments should all be working now.  There was a bit of an interruption during the upgrade, but seems to be OK.

🙂

First time using ebony. Any tips? Density? Blades dulling? Fret insertion?

@clinton First of all, take you time! Ebony is nice to work but the dust is very fine and you do not want to breath that in, where a good mask, not a cheap paper one (they are useless in my opinion. Ebony also can chip quite easily if you are not careful with your tools, especially on the edges. When your fret slots have been cut and you have installed your fret marker dots, carefully use a small triangular file to open up the opening of each slot a little. I’m using the word “careful” a lot, file from one side into the centre of each slot and then file from the other side into the centre too. If you filed all the way over and off the other side, it increases the possibility of breakout from the edge of the fretboard. I am going to press my frets in this time instead of hammering (I am sure you can hammer them in, just be careful). 

Take your time and enjoy the learning process. If you have any concerns or questions and want any help or guidance, just ask here in the forum. @markbailey is the man but we are all here too. Happy building. 

@clinton Also, save the sawdust from the ebony, you can use it to mix a coloured glue for doing any repairs. I have discovered a few tiny chips in my fretboard. 

@clinton

Ebony doesn't usually respond well to normal planes as it chips and tears very easily. Sanding or scrapers/scraper planes which have a vertical blade are usually needed. Although it's a hard dense wood chips can break off very easily and I think Mark demonstrated how to cope with this in a recent video by using masking tape when cutting to retain any chips.

Violin supplies such as Dictum in Germany sell a brand called Old Wood who do an ebony polish for finger boards. It's a thick black paste and is very effective. If you can't capture the dust to use as a filler there is also a brand called Behlen who sell very fine furniture powders. The black is ideal for ebony chips mixed with glue and it's not as toxic as ebony dust.

My problem is I don't know what the wordt finniting means. 😆 

As others have pointed out ebony does have attendance to chip...be careful with the rough cut board as they can dry out and it can be even worse. Ask me how I know..

sand or scrape is good advice and if you are using the router to plane/thickness the board try it at one end as a test.

@marcel It is the step of double checking all over for any imperfections that needs addressing before finishing

Thanks everyone for the tips and pointers and will take it all into consideration. Gonna give it a go today.

Interestingly, when I type "finniting", auto-correct intervenes and assumes that i mean finessing.

I think my next project might involve some fairly major finniting.

It is the step of double checking all over for any imperfections that needs addressing before finishing

Ah, thank you.