MIMF

Hi all,
It's been awhile since I've been here, but I am almost finished with my first build. I have a persimmon fretboard and wanted to know what anyone recommends to finish it.

Thanks!

Persimmon can look kinda gross sometimes; of it is a nice looking piece, I would consider no finish at all for a fretboard. Just polish it up to a nice sheen. If it is cosmetically challenged, you might try ebonizing it. I suspect the old vinegar and steel wool trick will work on persimmon but have not tried it myself. IIRC, Alan Caruth uses a stain made from walnut husk on persimmon. Hopefully he will stop by and elaborate. Or, try a search with his name and persimmon here.

Right. I get black walnut hulls (the punky stuff on the outside of the shells) and boil them for a while to pull out the color. It makes a pretty good stain, obviously more or less the same color as walnut. So far I've used it on maple, persimmon, and Eastern hornbeam to good effect.

I'd be loathe to use anything that would hydrate the fingerboard. You might consider the oil based black dyes sold by Stewmac and LMII they sell for fingerboards. Makes a permanent jet black finish that holds up well. Oil based, so no hydration. A little bit goes a long way, I use it frequently and my six year old 4oz. bottle is still half full. Use gloves and apron, it turns anything it touches black instantly.

I you want black a few drops of pure transtint black will get you there a lot faster than leather die and it won't rub off once it's dry.

I just used an oil finish on this guitar. Was quite pleased with the results!

'Hydrate the fingerboard'? The water is all going to go away in a few minutes, and the wood will end up at equilibrium moisture. How's that going to hurt anything? Now, an oil that stays in the wood, THAT could be a problem....