oiled fretboard stiffening

[rico mando]

This question is going to make me look stupid i'm sure

while cleaning for the first time could lemon oil soak into a ebony fret board and cause the neck to straiten a bit?

as per compression fretting.

i did give the truss just short of a 1/4 turn but was pondering the possibility of the oil soaking in and adding stiffness.

[Michael Lewis]

Whaddaya messing with the truss rod for? A 1/4 turn or less can make a dramatic difference in relief, or not. Much more likely the truss rod effected the feel of your neck, not the oil. And don't soak your fingerboard with any oil or water. A light application once a year or so shouldn't hurt if you wipe it off quickly. There is no real need for putting stuff on your fingerboard.

[rico mando]

i still have.015 at sixth fret .020 relief at the 12th fret lot less than before. never oil cleaned the board in the past 17yrs looks great and i did remove it right away. thanks love your ritz series beautiful instruments

[Paul Hostetter]

could lemon oil soak into a ebony fret board and cause the neck to straiten a bit? as per compression fretting

Absolutely not. BTW, it's not a good idea to oil fingerboards. Many, many threads in the archives all lead to that conclusion. Do a little bit of oil (preferably not lemon oil) for cosmetic reasons, if you must, once a year.


i did give the truss just short of a 1/4 turn but was pondering the possibility of the oil soaking in and adding stiffness.

The rod did it. No way the oil could have had any such effect on the wood. You could soak it in water for a week and the wood would not change shape longitudinally, it's physically impossible.

[rico mando]

thanks foe the info guys
I am using dan erlewine's guitar players repair guide
the fret board cleaning and conditioning article lead me in the direction
i had taken with the lemon oil.
but you guys make beautiful instruments so i will defer to your wisdom
my ol mandolin looks much better for the cleaning but i also polished the tarnished metal parts
and removed grime from the body.the finish is a thick one shot spray like they use on electric guitars
so i used some swirl remover and elbow grease on the body. I also removed the fishman bridge and reinstalled the original. not going to adjust anything for a few weeks to let things settle.the action is a bit high and there is no adjustment left in the bridge. but i want to make sure the neck is as strait as it will get before altering the bridge.It is seated properly now.

[Big Joe]

Most bottles labeled "Lemon Oil" have waxes in them that can be less than desirable on your fingerboard. If you are going to use anything just use a fretboard conditioner. Gibson makes one and so do others. It is much better than the products you buy that call them selves lemon oil. It rarely needs conditioning unless it sits for a very long time and dries out.

[Paul Hostetter]

If you take the time to track down the safety data sheets, you'll knew that lemon oil sold for wood conditioning (I'm a talking about Old English, Kyser and Dunlop, etc.), is 90-100% mineral oil, no wax, and has nothing to do with lemons. The synthetic lemon fragrance is quite toxic, so much so that lemon oil is not even sold in Canada. Somehow the fragrance toxicity category doesn't exist in the US, hence it's available here. Simple mineral oil is sufficient and quite harmless, but I wouldn't put anything on a fingerboard I wouldn't drink or add to a salad.

Fret Doctor doesn't post an MSDS, which might explain why it's off the market right now.

[rico mando]

I purchased a bottle of Dunlop fretboard 65 ultimate lemon oil at long & mcquade here on the island .Are you saying the lemon sent is toxic? they have a great return policy i will bring it back. looks like i will be washing my hands not only before but after playing.

[fishtownmike]

After i clean a fingerboard and frets i wipe it down with plain old mineral oil and then i wipe it off. I don't let it soak in. Its cheaper then buying these fingerboard conditioners they sell for $5 for a half ounce bottle. People are sure suckers.

[Paul Hostetter]

:whistling:

[Michael Lewis]

Paul, where did you get the information re toxicity of the 'lemon scent'? I have been using Formby's Lemon Oil Polish as the oil when French polishing and like it pretty well, but if it is toxic maybe i should find an alternative.~o)~o)~o)

[Rob Grant]

An expert on "essential oils" I'm not, but you can get a flammable oily substance that smells like lemon by squeezing the skin of the lemon (try it next to a lit candle). Perhaps these commercial variants are like most of the currently available "tung oil" or "China oil" products... very little natural oil with a heap of pretty potent hydrocarbon solvents!

[Rob Grant]

An expert on "essential oils" I'm not, but you can get a flammable oily substance that smells like lemon by squeezing the skin of the lemon (try it next to a lit candle). Perhaps these commercial variants are like most of the currently available "tung oil" or "China oil" products... very little natural oil with a heap of pretty potent hydrocarbon solvents!

I use "double virgin" olive oil for FP. Hmmmm... two virgins in one bottle, must get pretty crowded in that little 'ol container on a Friday night!!??<G>

[Paul Hostetter]

Paul, where did you get the information re toxicity of the 'lemon scent'?

If you look at the MSDS, you'll see it's still off the market and considered really toxic in Canada. What was happening was that kids were finding the bottles under the sink when Mom wasn't looking and drinking the stuff because it smelled good. They were dying at a high rate. The salient medical condition was that their lungs turned to the consistency of India rubber.

Nonetheless, the stuff has remained on the market in the US. If it really was that deadly with regards to the folks who use it on their coffee tables and so on, or people like you who use it on fingerboards, we'd probably know it by now. I don't really think it's that deadly, but I also don't think it's necessary, especially when you realize all it really is is mineral oil. Which is a petroleum distillate, but a rather benign one.

Real lemon oil (extract of lemon peel) is pretty useless as a wood conditioner. Tung oil (the real stuff, not the commercial product) polymerizes into a varnish, and the last thing you really want to do with wood is seal it against moisture exchange.

What I have always used for a cosmetic touchup for fingerboards is Johnson's paste wax—mineral oil and a bit of carnauba—which is mostly rubbed back off. I've also used vegetable oil, including olive oil with an extra virgin thrown in for good measure.

[Rob Grant]

Paul wrote:
"...with an extra virgin thrown in for good measure."

Paul, we're not talking human sacrifice to the gods of lutherie are we??!!<G>

[Paul Hostetter]

Yeah, her name is Minerva.

https://premiergourmet.com/store/product_images/g/minerva__90861.jpg

[Rick Turner]

The "extra virgins" are all up in heaven waiting for the jihadhist suicide bombers..

BTW, I happen to like Waterlox on fingerboards when they're brand spankin' new, and I like Howard's Feed'n'Wax when I do fret jobs. Of course the "feed" part of that is pure baloney.

Here's the thing...the real reason to put some sort of oil on the fingerboards is not to "feed" it, it is to protect it from the acids in your sweat which can be corrosive to wood. Then there's the side benefit that it just looks nice if no overdone.