Cooking oil such as Olive oil, walnut oil for rosewood neck???

[guitarcapo]

Incidentally...Stradivarius used natural oil in his varnishes. I think the main ingredient was pine oil with additives.

 

Took weeks to dry in the sun.

[k4df4l]

 

Originally posted by guitarcapo I've never had problems with bindings coming loose or inlays falling out using walnut oil...I would think lemon oil (really mineral oil artificially lemon scented..no lemons involved) would be worse because it's more of a solvent. It strips out the natural oils of the wood and is better for cleaning out stuff more than protecting the wood.

 

 

more from the perspective of the overnight soak aspect giving the oil a chance to work at the adhesive...if anything was going to happen, it would prb not show for a good number of years after a high number of soaks. I really wouldn't bother do that with any of the oils but YMMV

[OrvilleGibson]

I use Walnut oil with flake shellac as part of a french polish process. I picked up that tip from John Greven's article in the LMI handbook/catalog. Works OK, but I've had problems with the first type of walnut oil I tried, which had some additives that caused some hazing and can't be buffed or spirited out. The stuff I'm using now works great.

[gghyt101]

Just go buy some dunlop 65 ultimate lemon oil. You just scrub it on with the fuzzy tip and rub it off with a cloth. Works great for me.

[jerry_picker]

 

Originally posted by guitarcapo Incidentally...Stradivarius used natural oil in his varnishes. I think the main ingredient was pine oil with additives. Took weeks to dry in the sun.

 

 

And hundred of years to completely "cure" tonally.

 

Cremona violin varnishes were complex, and remain largely a mystery even today. The esoteric and elusive "additives" you allude to make all the difference. Here is a cool article:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1129/p17s1-stgn.html

[walt0915]

actually you CAN use a few vegetable oils to treat wood - you just hacve to pick the ones that will not go rancid. There is one used frequently for salad bowls - Behlens sells a form of it, but otherwise I don't recall the name. Hardening isn't an issue really, just keeping the wood conditioned.

 

But unless you are a vegan and plan to eat off your fretboard, I don't see why you'd bother.

[StringSnapse]

Originally posted by guitarcapo Incidentally...Stradivarius used natural oil in his varnishes. I think the main ingredient was pine oil with additives. Took weeks to dry in the sun.

I think its generally thought that there is no strad around today that still retains that original finish .

[guitarcapo]

If you really want to get into detail about Strad finish, there was also a "mineral layer" involved. In those days it was common to treat woods with a preparation of volcanic ash which absorbed into wood to inhibit termites and worms from eating wood. I think ground lime was involved too. The chemicals created were silicates (calcium silicate mostly, but potassium too) This was a sort of cement used since the days of the Roman Empire. Anyway, it gets aborbed into the wood pores and when it dries it creates a glasslike quality that some say is at the heart of Cremona tone more than the oil based varnish. I had thought of going down to Home Depot to buy some cement mix and treat some wood for guitars...But it's been reported that silicate solutions can permanently warp and distort large plates, especially when used on one side. I guess the pores fill up with silicate and that swells one side. Also, silicate treatments sometimes make it difficult for overlying finishes to adhere properly...and the wood has to be sanded or some intermediate coat like egg white formulations be applied before varnishing.

[Norcal_GIT_r]

The best for RW necks and fretboards is either mineral oil for human consumption. You can get this at any pharmacy. Or actual rosewood oil. You can get this from any health food store.

Again you only need a small drop or 2 for a whole neck. And you'll want to wipe the excess off right away. dont oil your neck and let sit for too long. The oil will do its thing almost imediately. If you use too much or leave it on too long you'll have too much of an oily feel left.

[jerry_picker]

 

Originally posted by Norcal_GIT_r The best for RW necks and fretboards is either mineral oil for human consumption. You can get this at any pharmacy. Or actual rosewood oil. You can get this from any health food store. Again you only need a small drop or 2 for a whole neck. And you'll want to wipe the excess off right away. dont oil your neck and let sit for too long. The oil will do its thing almost imediately. If you use too much or leave it on too long you'll have too much of an oily feel left.

 

 

"Lemon Oil" from a hardware or woodworking shop is simply light mineral oil with a little yellow color and maybe some lemon scent. It is a petroleum product, not a food grade oil.

 

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=20008001

[Norcal_GIT_r]

 

Originally posted by jerry_picker "Lemon Oil" from a hardware or woodworking shop is simply light mineral oil with a little yellow color and maybe some lemon scent. It is a petroleum product, not a food grade oil.

 

 

Lemon oil as you state sometimes have other additives that can actually dry out your fretboard. Mineral for human consumption does not contain those additives, therefore works better to moisturize the wood.

If you have a full RW neck I'd suggest just using actual RW oil.

[jerry_picker]

Originally posted by Norcal_GIT_r Lemon oil as you state sometimes have other additives that can actually dry out your fretboard. Mineral for human consumption does not contain those additives, therefore works better to moisturize the wood. If you have a full RW neck I'd suggest just using actual RW oil.

I've never used RW oil, but it sounds reasonable.

 

I was simply making the point that a widely accepted industry standard for furniture grade woodwork (Formby's Lemon Oil) is pretty much the same thing that you recommended: mineral oil.

[k4df4l]

 

Originally posted by Norcal_GIT_r Lemon oil as you state sometimes have other additives that can actually dry out your fretboard. Mineral for human consumption does not contain those additives, therefore works better to moisturize the wood. If you have a full RW neck I'd suggest just using actual RW oil.

 

 

yesh, most lemon oils are mineral oil, solvents and fragrances/color. Strip the surface wood of natural oils is a better description than "dry" out since they don't not add or significantly subtract mositure to/from the wood itself.

[Norcal_GIT_r]

Originally posted by k4df4l yesh, most lemon oils are mineral oil, solvents and fragrances/color. Strip the surface wood of natural oils is a better description than "dry" out since they don't not add or significantly subtract mositure to/from the wood itself.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

[OrvilleGibson]

Originally posted by StringSnapse I think its generally thought that there is no strad around today that still retains that original finish .

 

There are very few Strad's around today that retain anything original. The violin was a very different instrument back then, and almost all of those have been "updated" since then. If a top has been "doubled", is it still a Strad? New neck?

 

Besides, Stradivarius only made new violins...

[shred and roll]

Raw linseed oil and pure tung oil are the best. Just be careful with them because the oil soaked rags can spontaneously combust.

[markas214]

10W40

[jerry_picker]

 

Originally posted by shred and roll Raw linseed oil and pure tung oil are the best. Just be careful with them because the oil soaked rags can spontaneously combust.

 

 

I had that happen to me.

I threw some Watco Danish Oil-soaked rags into a box I intended to take to the dumpster. The box was on my patio. After running an errand, I returned home to a weird burning smell, kind of like burning plastic. Honestly, I thought the neighbors had fired up their barbeque grill and figured it was dirty. Then the smell in my apartment got more intense, and I tracked it to the box, where the rags were smoldering and smoking. I stuck them into a bucket of water, and counted myself lucky that I found out before a fire started.