Official Luthiers Forum!

I just sprayed the first waterbased sealer coat and notice on one of my 4 tenor ukes that the ebony end graft and the ebony headplate veneer have some light streaks in a few places. My questions are:
1. Can you tell me what these light streaks are? (Natural variation, spalting, etc)
2. Do you consider these streaks as part of the natural wood and feel proud because it does not look like black plastic?
3. Do you consider these streaks as something that needs to be addressed and, if so, how do you address them?

Bill

_________________
Formerly know as Mandodiddle.

If you look on LMI's web site at the Ebony Fingerboards, they go into a little detail explaining the streaks in Ebony.

Long story short, it's natural and it's in the wood. And it's because the good stuff is getting more scarce.

LMI sells a fingerboard dye that you could use to darken up the light streaks if you want it more black.

I haven't tried the dye yet, but I did buy some recently.

_________________
Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

Here are some photos:

_________________
Formerly know as Mandodiddle.

After spraying

_________________
Formerly know as Mandodiddle.

Looks good to me.
I like the little things in ebony that make it look like wood, and not black plastic.

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I'm with you Steve. I've been known to buy second-grade ebony headplates just so there IS some streaking!

_________________
Cheers
Pete

Absolutely, it's wood not plastic, it's the variation that makes it look natural.

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

It's pretty much impossible (at least for me) to find perfectly black ebony these days. I actually like a few streaks. To me it looks more natural. I'll dye ebony if needed to meet customer expectations though.

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I'll go with #2. I don't like dyeing ebony.

Bill : I must concur with the others that say they like it.
Tom

_________________
A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

It's not just with ebony. My last build with a Amazon Rosewood had certain areas with whitish grain showing in the dark wood that made me think I had some grain contamination when pore filling. After scraping and resanding and areas.....it was obvious the whitish grain went all the way through. I was unable to rectify the issue and unfortunately these areas ended up looking like a poorly finished issue when it was not. I tried to do some "fixits" on a scrap cutoff with the same problem, and it seems the pores were actually naturally replaced in the wood with some natural white substance/chemical and I was unable to dye or stain the white looking pore areas without staining the wood darker too. I even tried using a xfine black felt tip and attempted to black out each pore line. A coat of shellac over that attempted fix on my scrap looked like a 4 year old grader drawing on the wall with a crayon.
I should have sprayed the back and sides with shellac before joining/bending and constructing the complete guitar. I may have seen the issue as a problem early and not used this wood at all.
So....I have another guitar that will remain in the family as a NO SELLER.
KB

_________________
Wood Creations by Kent A. Bailey
EXCELLENCE IN SCULPTURE, CARVING, LUTHIER, ARCHITECTURAL MILLWORK AND DESIGN

http://www.kabart.com

Perhaps that is calcium carbonite. It is found sometimes in ebony as a white substance in the pores.

I found this on the Allied Lutherie website:
"When close to final finishing of the fingerboard, paint on a little Muriatic acid with a brush and watch it attack the calcium carbonate. Wipe it off with a paper towel, and apply again. Continue until it's all gone, and then sand to final finish."

They also had heard that lemon juice might work. Perhaps this may be useful for other wood species as well?

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Those are mineral inclusions, common on EIR, ebony and other woods. As Steve notes muriatic acid works, and if it doesn't a bit of artistry with a permanent black marker before sealing will restore happiness.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/