fretboard stained by superglue

[Ron Daves]

Hi, Guys
I was walking by a smoke shop a few weeks back and they were selling cigar boxes on an outside shelf. I bought one and have been making it into a uke. I'm using stuff I had around, like a hardwood (of some kind) neck and curly maple fretboard. And now the problem: I hammered the frets in and then applied a drop of superglue. Unfortunately, curly maple is porous and the superglue has wicked up onto the surface of the fretboard everyplace I placed a drop of superglue. I've tried acetone and sandpaper on a stick, and it helped a little, but the marks are still noticeable. Any advice?

Would HHG have been a better choice?
What about darkening the fretboard?

If this was a guitar, I would redo the fretboard, but it's a funky cigar box uke and I'm not going to obsess over it. Just wondering for future builds, is superglue really a good idea on a fretboard?

[Mark Swanson]

Wipe down the entire fingerboard with the CA. Just put a thin coat on, with a paper towel. You won't see the marks anymore and the maple will have a nice protective coating. It will discolor otherwise.

[Jason Rodgers]

I can't remember exactly who does this, but a respected classical luthier uses CA as a fretboard finish. It was in American Lutherie I read the process: shape fretboard to finished dimensions, apply thin CA to entire fretboard surface, sand back to wood, polish on a buffing wheel. I don't remember if this was done before or after cutting the fret slots.

[Ron Daves]

Wipe down the entire fingerboard with the CA. Just put a thin coat on, with a paper towel. You won't see the marks anymore and the maple will have a nice protective coating. It will discolor otherwise.

It worked nicely. thanks.

[Mark Swanson]

Thanks for letting us know!