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Minwax Ebony Stain Pen on Rosewood Fretboard

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  • Minwax Ebony Stain Pen on Rosewood Fretboard

    I was looking for dark grained rosewood look, so I Tried the stain pen, here are my results. Oiled with Boiled Linseed Oil ~6 months ago. Scrubbed board with acetone, then applied stain. Color it on, wait 10 minutes and wipe it off.






    After 4 coats.



    Exactly what I was looking for. Might do a few more coats. My one pen hasn't run out of stain yet. if you want black than leather dye would probably be the best.

  • #2
    It's darker no doubt.
    Seems that results vary when using the minwax. After 4 coats mine is extremely dark rosewood now, though I'm pretty sure my board was a bit darker than yours from the start. My grain can only be seen up close.
    I wonder if the reason mine took so well is because I've never oil/conditioned my board? That is, aside from 2-3 very light treatments of mineral oil over a 4 year span.

    Could it be that a fresh coat of some oils make the wood less able to soak up the stain?

    [IMG][/IMG]
    96xxxxx, 97xxxxx and 98xxxxx serials oftentimes don't indicate '96, '97 and '98.

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    • #3
      Rosewood is oily, so oiling the fretboard would be counter-productive to applying the stain. xenophobe explains his acetone procedure here, along with my results (a shade darker using the Minwax ebony pen), though my dye ended up being patchier than Guitarkid8's above. http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/150...ight=ebonizing

      Here is someone on the Facebook ESP & LTD Guitars group who used the Stewmac India Ink (http://www.stewmac.com/Materials_and...ard_Stain.html) and successfully stained his rosewood fretboard: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1512...ZG8sYW1vcmU%3D

      I might attempt to dye another rosewood fretboard in the future and will post procedure/results when I do.

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      • #4
        sharpies give dark results. no matter what the stain is it will never make rosewood into ebony. get an ebony fret board if that is what you desire.

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        • #5
          Sharpie will glare purple because black dye is usually actually a purplish color unless you add dark green. That's a rit dye formulation, 2/3 black 1/3 dark green to avoid those weird overtones.

          Minwax pen needs to be left on. Put on, let dry, wipe inlays off. It shouldn't really rub off on your fingers unless you have really fucked up PH sweat.
          The 2nd Amendment: America's Original Homeland Defense.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by paranoid View Post
            no matter what the stain is it will never make rosewood into ebony.
            We're just darkening rosewood to make it appear blacker, not chemically trying to transform rosewood into ebony at the molecular level.

            Originally posted by xenophobe View Post
            Minwax pen needs to be left on. Put on, let dry, wipe inlays off. It shouldn't really rub off on your fingers unless you have really fucked up PH sweat.
            In my experiment, the Minwax didn't "seep" into the wood to dye it, at least not to the degree I desired. For me, it formed a sort of "painted layer" that sat on top of the rosewood. Wiping the rosewood + inlays removed that caked layer and revealed the actual bare wood, which had absorbed SOME stain but not as much as I hoped. I should follow your acetone/sanding procedure if I get around to experimenting on that inexpensive Yamaha acoustic guitar again.

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            • #7
              2 more coats, then sealed with BLO.



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              • #8
                Looks great! You basically went from "milk chocolate" to "dark chocolate" after acetone + six Minwax coats.

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                • #9
                  That really brought it around. Huge difference between start and finish.
                  I'd suggest some steel wool on those frets for a nice slippery shine.
                  96xxxxx, 97xxxxx and 98xxxxx serials oftentimes don't indicate '96, '97 and '98.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Number Of The Priest View Post
                    In my experiment, the Minwax didn't "seep" into the wood to dye it, at least not to the degree I desired. For me, it formed a sort of "painted layer" that sat on top of the rosewood. Wiping the rosewood + inlays removed that caked layer and revealed the actual bare wood, which had absorbed SOME stain but not as much as I hoped. I should follow your acetone/sanding procedure if I get around to experimenting on that inexpensive Yamaha acoustic guitar again.
                    Rosewood is a closed grain and oily wood. The only stain it accepts is water ring stains.
                    The 2nd Amendment: America's Original Homeland Defense.

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                    • #11
                      Natural light:



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                      • #12
                        After 6, maybe 7 coats, I'm pretty darn close to ebony. The pics don't show, but you can still see a hint of brown if you get up close in the right lighting.

                        As others have said, I expect it'll never get black. I may try dye to finally put an end to the effort, but it looks like a million bucks as is.

                        Rosewood-left, ebony-right.

                        [IMG][/IMG]
                        96xxxxx, 97xxxxx and 98xxxxx serials oftentimes don't indicate '96, '97 and '98.

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                        • #13
                          Good looking neck Mudlark!

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                          • #14
                            Thanks, man. I won't hesitate for a second to say this MIJ Dinky is every bit the guitar the USA next to it is...at less than 1/3 the price.
                            I'd truly hate to have to decide between the two.
                            96xxxxx, 97xxxxx and 98xxxxx serials oftentimes don't indicate '96, '97 and '98.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Didn't I see it up for sale the other day on Kijiji?

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