Rosewood to Ebony Staining Products?

[mobiusr]

Ok so i found some Kiwi Leather Cuir - Black Noir in my cabinet


Is this ok to dye my KE3's Neck to ebony or is it bad using this product? Cause i saw on another forum some guy using Kiwi Leather Dye instead of the Leather Cuir.... Also its a stick where you apply pressure like the Dunlop Lemon Oil Products.....

[Trem]

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishin...ard_Stain.html

[DalyTek]

I've never heard of "Kiwi Leather Cuir"....

I used Fiebing's Oil Dye on mine.
It's the same stuff as the Trem linked to above that StewMac sells as "fingerboard stain."
It's actually an oil-based leather dye, and I got it cheaper at a local leather shop.
It's very messy, but I got great results from it.

Before:

After:

[Mercenary]

Nice job! I thought about having that done to a guitar a few years ago but I backed out. Does the dye come off on your fingers at all while playing? How long does it take to dry?

[Sharkfin]

Wow, what a difference. Good work! How difficult of a job was it to dye the board? Does the dye wipe off the inlays easily?

[DonP]

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishin...ard_Stain.html

I still haven't opened my bottle LOL!

[DalyTek]

Thanks guys. It was actually pretty easy. The hard part was the edge of the fretboard, as it has clear coat that needed to be scraped off.

I cleaned the board with naptha first. Then I just brushed on a light coat with a Q-tip, waited about a minute for it to penetrate, then wiped it off with a rag & repeated. I put on 3 coats as I wanted it BLACK. I overdid it, as it really didn't get any darker with more applications, so just one coat should be good as long as you give it a minute or two to soak in.

It does rub off on fingers a little when I play. Not much though, and it doesn't really rub "off" the fretboard per se, more like it's still seeping out of the fretboard. I say that because the board is not getting any lighter, it just continues to seep out because I way oversaturated it.

What I would do if I were to do it again:
1. Make sure the board is "thisty"
2. Rub fretboard down with 0000 steel wool & clean with naptha
3. Apply single coat of dye & let sit for about 1-2 minutes
4. Wipe off with clean rag
5. Seal with fretboard oil
6. Continue to wipe off any "seepage" as it comes out of the pores

Make sure you wear gloves and cover everything, as this stuff is MESSY! It wiped right off of the fret wire and inlays, but beware that IT WILL STAIN BINDING, so you have to be careful if the board is bound! Also, completely mack off the back of the neck and headstock. This stuff is runny and will get everywhere. I got little black smudges all over the back of the neck, but since it was clear coated, it wiped right off.

I'm really happy with how it came out. You can't duplicate the grain of ebony, or the tone of ebony, but it sure does look good!

[DeathThrashAttack]

The last time I ebonized a bored with leather dye it also staining the dot inlays. So youre saying it wiped right off of youre inlays?

[DalyTek]

Yes, my inlays were completely unaffected. There may be a different effect on natural inlays (like mother-of-pearl or abalone) I am not sure about that.

[Inazone]

I had the same experience as DalyTek, although I didn't bother with the fretboard edges when I noticed that they were clearcoated. I still get a little bit of black residue on my fingers after extended periods of playing, but as he said, the fretboard isn't fading at all from this. If you have any trouble getting the dye off the inlays, dipping a Q-tip in naptha and dabbing it very lightly on the inlays should clear it right up. This won't hurt what you've already done on the fretboard, as the wood will have absorbed the dye already.