Fingerboard finish question

[Burns-bass]

I recently picked up a DB on here and the neck repair was fair clumsy, leaving a fairly large chunk out of the board.

I’ve filled this with epoxy resin and the repair is solid and smooth, however the resin is dark grey rather than black.
 

I’d like to find some way to finish it sympathetically, but stain won’t work as the resin isn’t porous. Any ideas?

 

Did think a couple of coats of primer and then some matte acrylic paint could do the job?

[TwoTimesBass]

Borrowing an idea often seen on the Builds thread (although it would mean re-doing some of the epoxy), could you get some dust by sanding the underside of the fingerboard overhang and mix it with the epoxy to get the same colour?

[Johncee]

On 18/12/2021 at 22:24, TwoTimesBass said:

Borrowing an idea often seen on the Builds thread (although it would mean re-doing some of the epoxy), could you get some dust by sanding the underside of the fingerboard overhang and mix it with the epoxy to get the same colour?

 

 

if you have a suitable scraper, I'd be inclined to scrape the existing epoxy back a bit and overcoat with black stuff, as suggested above.

Mixing with a black artist pigment would be more effective than ebony dust. Or you can buy ready made black epoxy.

Have you got a photo of the damage?

[Burns-bass]

Hi all, I should say that the epoxy I used was black, but when sanded it’s gone grey. It turns out that it can be stained so I’ve got some leather dye and will use that. Will share some pics when it’s done…

[Johncee]

1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:

Hi all, I should say that the epoxy I used was black, but when sanded it’s gone grey. It turns out that it can be stained so I’ve got some leather dye and will use that. Will share some pics when it’s done…

Trick of the trade to cover defects in ebony is to wet sand with thin superglue and 250 grit wet and dry. Takes practice, but works a treat. Fiebing's leather dye works great for staining.

[Burns-bass]

Thanks for your expertise John, I really appreciate it. When I’ve applied the leather dye how can I blend it in to the rest of the fingerboard? Is it just apply a few coats until it matches or are there any tricks of the trade?

[Johncee]

2 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Thanks for your expertise John, I really appreciate it. When I’ve applied the leather dye how can I blend it in to the rest of the fingerboard? Is it just apply a few coats until it matches or are there any tricks of the trade?

 

I'd apply it to the whole board, not just where the epoxy is. A little bit of the dye goes an awful long way. Not sure how well the dye will take on the epoxy. Some trial and error needed. Matching texture is as important as matching colour if you want to hide the repair as effectively as possible. 

[Burns-bass]

Great advice. Thanks for all your help, very much appreciated.