Fret Board Material??

[Gordon Bellerose]

I did a forum search and found nothing in this area, so I thought I would ask.

1. Have any of you used either Cherry, or Purple Heart, as a fret board material?
2. Is cherry hard enough? (I suspect it is)
3. How would you finish Purple Heart for use on a fret board? (I really don't know if I would do this, but I was asked the question by someone else) Purple Heart tends to become a dark brownish purple after a while without finish.

[Brian Evans]

Cherry is around as hard as a lot of maple, to me, and maple is really common. Cherry has the advantage or disadvantage of strongly reacting to sunlight and darkening, and it can be really surprising what colour it ends up after a few years.

Brian

[David King]

Purpleheart benefits from a finish. An oil finish will hold off the browning for a little while but a hard finish could hold it off indefinitely. I did an oil finished purpleheart fingerboard twenty years ago and it became nearly black over time.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Thanks for the replies fellas.
That's kind of what I thought about Purpleheart. It tends to darken pretty severely after a while. I've got a couple of pieces in the shop that have been there for a while, and they are pretty dark.
That is why I asked about a finish. Difficult to put a sealed coat on a fret board. The PolyX Oil may work though.

Cherry also darkens a bit but not as badly, as I understand.

[Brian Evans]

Cherry looks really dirty really fast if it's not well sealed with a tough finish.

Brian

[Todd Stock]

Cherry is about 950 to 995 Janka; soft maple is about the same; hard maple is about 1450. By way of comparison, mahogany is around 800, while rosewoods and ebony run about 1800 and ~3200, respectively. I don't mind a finished fretboard, and if the price is a coat or two of lacquer every now and again, that is fine. I prefer stainless or EVO frets, though - easier than the inevitable refret. A finished cherry board might look very nice.

[Chuck Tweedy]

That is a beauty Todd.

[Gordon Bellerose]

Yeah that's a beauty. The fret board looks like a quilted? cherry.

Just so everyone knows, I have decided to go with a cherry board, bound with maple.
I will treat it with PolyX Oil. I have used that product twice now, and it puts a hard, waterproof, UV resistant coat on wood, but doesn't have a lacquer like shine. It leaves the wood feeling more natural.

I'll get back to you with the results in a month or two, when the guitar is finished.