wood is good Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Hi guys, me again, i was wondering, it seems as though polyurathane doesnt adhere to cocobolo due to its high oil content. i have made 2 guitars with the stuff, and i must say i think it is impossible for poly to stick to it. on the sides of the fretboards, after the rest is dry, it just rolls off like sticky adhesive from the cocobolo. anyone else had this problem? how is it with other finishes? thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 20, 2008 Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Yep - very common problem on cocobolo, which many people have experienced here. If it is just a fretboard, I would leave it unfinished - tape it off and finish the back of the neck as you like. I've gotten pre-catalyzed conversion varnish to cure beautifully on cocobolo, and probably a lot of pre-cat finishes could work in this regard. I've heard that you can use nitro if you first seal the coco with McFadden's rosewood sealer (this is Rick Turner's favorite combo), but I've not tried this myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood is good Posted November 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2008 Thanks for your reply Erik! i will look into that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Shellac might work to seal it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted November 23, 2008 Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 I haven't tried it yet, but if you have some cut offs, you can try wiping it down with a solvent to remove to oil from the surface and then spray the first coat. Acetone, naptha, alcohol, any of those should work to draw of the top bit of oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ooten2 Posted November 23, 2008 Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 (edited) Shellac might work to seal it. +1 I've sealed a cocobolo neck with shellac and then finished with several coats of tru oil with great success. But I'm not sure if shellac and poly go well together. Edited November 23, 2008 by ooten2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Shellac might work to seal it. +2 I just re-read the chapter on shellac in Flexner's book. After chiding folks for not wanting to use shellac as a finish anymore, he went to great lengths to describe it's properties. Among these are that it excells as a sealer to stop sap & oil. It also sticks to any other finish very well, so useing poly over the shellac sealer would be fine. That being said, I agree with Erik: don't finish or seal it if it's for the fretboard. It's just fine as-is, or maybe with some oil rubbed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Shellac is a great sealer - but lots of posts over on the MIMF demonstrate that even shellac is a hit-or-miss proposition when trying to seal cocobolo. The problem is that even if you wipe with acetone (NOT naptha which takes too long to completely gas off), the oil will wick back to the surface in about 15 minutes - and anything that takes more than 15 minutes to set up runs the risk of never curing completely. That's why catalyzed finishes work well, they're typically dry to the touch in 10 minutes or less. Here's a lefty bass I did a refinish on with pre-cat conversion varnish: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood is good Posted November 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 avenger: when i said the fretboard, i diddnt mean the face of it. just the sides. no one wants to mask off the fretboard sides and spray the rest of the neck, you would have a big ugly line you could feel afterwards. i always mask off the face of the fretbaord and spray the whole neck including the sides of the fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 (edited) Anyone every try CA to seal the edges of the fretboard? I am assuming you could wipe the thin CA on before finishing the rest of the neck. I am so allergic to cocobolo I can't even touch the dust so I can't try and report back. Edited November 26, 2008 by RestorationAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihocky2 Posted November 26, 2008 Report Share Posted November 26, 2008 There are plenty of people that will mask off the sides and the face of the FB and then spray. A little tender work with some sandpaper and you can feather the edge right in and never know it was there. Or there is the easy way around the problem and add binding. Then you just mask off the face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 (edited) best bet is to use acetone or MEK, wipe down and immediately spray. other wise you are peein in the wind so to speak. same with glue ups with Coco. Just my observance. I can't even work with it anymore due to it's allergic reactions I get from the oils and dust. MK Edited April 19, 2009 by MiKro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Same report here, at least in terms of glueing. I've never finished an instrument with Cocobolo as a body/neck wood. Just fingerboards. I found that for glueing up, a freshly planed face scuffed with low grit paper provides a clean and happy-to-glue surface. I considered the acetone approach as I have bottles of the stuff, but I shyed away and went for a good mechanically-sound bonding surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
postal Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Anyone every try CA to seal the edges of the fretboard? I am assuming you could wipe the thin CA on before finishing the rest of the neck. I am so allergic to cocobolo I can't even touch the dust so I can't try and report back. Probably not a good idea. The oils bring brown/red color into the CA which could stain the neck wood. If you seal the neck wood first it would work fine probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirge for november Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 I reckon this problem is similar with indian rosewood? I ordered a neckblank of the stuff yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 I really wouldn't think so unless dust contamination so say, maple was a factor. Cocobolo is seriously oily compared to IR. Even the dust gunks up of it's own accord somewhat, whereas other rosewood dusts at least stay dusty for the most part. Postal - i'm not convinced that CA would wick oils out of the Cocobolo, although sense does dictate erring on the side of caution as it's possible I guess. Acetone definitely sucks out loads of oil and spreads it around, which is a pain if you use it during builds :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 East Indian Rosewood is not nearly as oily as cocobolo - you should have no problems gluing and finishing it. I am finishing an acoustic with EIR back & sides - no problems at all (apart from my spraying technique... ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 Not the old pressure washer mixup again I hope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flon Klar Guitars Posted May 1, 2009 Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 For what it's worth- I have used 2-part Mirror Coat on a cocobolo fretboard with great results- it adheres very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko_slash Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 Shellac might work to seal it. +1 I've sealed a cocobolo neck with shellac and then finished with several coats of tru oil with great success. But I'm not sure if shellac and poly go well together. You can put everything on shellac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood is good Posted May 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 Dont know, On the can of shellac, it says not to be used as a base for poly. It says to use their seal coat for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.