Finishing A Fingerboard In Gloss?

[Daniel Sorbera]

I have an amazingly beautiful peice of cocobolo as my fingerboard that looks stunning gloss. I was wondering if it would cause any problems finishing it in gloss. Would the frets go in alright without craking the laquor? Has anyone done this before?

[erikbojerik]

Coco is pretty hard on its own. I would try it without a finish first; start at whatever grit sandpaper you need, then finish-sand down to ~2000, then buff out. I think that's all you'll need.

Getting any kind of clear coat (poly or nitro) to stick on cocobolo can be really tough...ask Drak. If you must have something, go with tru-oil. I have a cocobolo top on my bass proj, that's what I'll be doing (but only because it's laminated with maple).