Montys "ageing wax" snake oil? or good ?

elstoof

Walnut is a seed from which the oil is pressed. You’d have a bit of a job pressing oil from the wood of the tree itself. 

You’ll notice I said “generally” as that’s the general advice for oiling wood, before anyone here starts rubbing crisp’n’dry on their fretboards 

BillDL

In the same way as boiled or "refined" linseed oil has been heat treated to improve its ability to dry properly and not leave a tacky rubbery residue that can go off, walnut oil needs to be heat treated to make it food safe (chopping boards and counter tops) by denaturing the proteins that make it go rancid and make it more suitable for jobs like treating fretboards.  If you use any untreated organic oil on wood it can go rancid.  I would say that it is best to steer away from walnut oil unless you know for certain that it has been heat treated.  You would NOT want to be putting treated walnut oil on your celery.

rze99

I once asked a vintage guitar sales guy what to use to make the board look well used he said "used engine oil". No thanks!

guitarjack66

elstoof said:

Walnut is a seed from which the oil is pressed. You’d have a bit of a job pressing oil from the wood of the tree itself. 

You’ll notice I said “generally” as that’s the general advice for oiling wood, before anyone here starts rubbing crisp’n’dry on their fretboards 

That will just leave your fretboard covered in chips.

Seziertisch

I’ve been experimenting with the Monty’s and discovered that applying a very thin layer (with a toothbrush) and then giving it a quick blast with a hairdryer (with a diffuser) gives good results using very little of the wax.

Penn

I’ve used Monty’s. Cleaned board with lighter fluid, left it in the board for 2 days really thick and it’s worked ok. 

elstoof

I picked some up a while ago out of curiosity, tried it on my daughter’s Squier laurel board and it worked a treat, noticeable darker from 1 application. Tried it on some rosewood boards and made no difference at all. Feels nice enough afterwards, too much of a faff to use as a regular fretboard treatment so will stick to Crimson oil for rosewood. Shoe polishing cream was better for darkening for me too

Kittyfrisk

elstoof said:

I picked some up a while ago out of curiosity, tried it on my daughter’s Squier pau ferro board and it worked a treat, noticeable darker from 1 application. Tried it on some rosewood boards and made no difference at all. Feels nice enough afterwards, too much of a faff to use as a regular fretboard treatment so will stick to Crimson oil for rosewood. Shoe polishing cream was better for darkening for me too

Vintage Kiwi or Cherry Blossom?

elstoof

Neither, a soft cream rather than a hard wax. Probably Saphir 1925 or similar

Kittyfrisk

 Have you tried Stones beeswax furniture cream?

timhulio

This is the result after two applications (done one after the other) on a really horrid and dry rosewood board on a First Act guitar I used to leave in the Fredric Effects office. I think the results are very good, and I'll use it on the Tele I take to guitar shows shortly.

Before



After

willo

I've seen some good results from this lately and would love to darken a few modern rosewood boards. And @timhulio 's example above is another good one.

However....I had been told previously that wax can result in long term damage to the frets, due to the fretboard expanding as it absorbs the oil and/or wax.

Old wives tale or truth?

elstoof

Wood expands and contracts a lot more from changes in humidity than it ever will from a bit of oiling

freakboy1610

To some extent I think it depends on the wood. I used it on an Indian laurel board, followed the instructions per Monty's video, left it on for 2 days and the difference was negligible. The fretboard felt nicer but that was about it. 

OilCityPickups

elstoof said:

It’s not generally a good idea to use foods oils for treating wood, it won't dry so remain tacky and eventually it’ll go rancid and smell off. Stick to mineral oils or known wood preserving oils like linseed, tung etc

Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant. 
Tung oil or China wood oil is a drying oil obtained by pressing the seed from the nut of the tung tree (Vernicia fordii). 

FYI both the oils you are quoting are vegetable oils. Walnut oil is fine for fingerboards ... I've even used extra virgin olive oil in the past with no issues.  

GoldenEraGuitars

I would avoid linseed oil and boiled linseed oil 

elstoof

OilCityPickups said:

elstoof said:

It’s not generally a good idea to use foods oils for treating wood, it won't dry so remain tacky and eventually it’ll go rancid and smell off. Stick to mineral oils or known wood preserving oils like linseed, tung etc

Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant. 
Tung oil or China wood oil is a drying oil obtained by pressing the seed from the nut of the tung tree (Vernicia fordii). 

FYI both the oils you are quoting are vegetable oils. Walnut oil is fine for fingerboards ... I've even used extra virgin olive oil in the past with no issues.  

Which is what I said, “stick to mineral oils OR known preserving oils” such as tung or linseed which have been heat treated for stability. I wouldn’t personally raid the kitchen cupboard for wood finish and not many woodworkers would advise it, I’d rather not encourage bacteria cultures to set up camp. 

I’m not really a fan of mineral oils or the so-called-boiled versions of vegetable based oils, pure tung oil is my usual go to for wood finish and I’ve used it to finish maple necks too. For my rosewood fretboards I use the Crimson oil which is petroleum free

OilCityPickups

elstoof said:

OilCityPickups said:

elstoof said:

It’s not generally a good idea to use foods oils for treating wood, it won't dry so remain tacky and eventually it’ll go rancid and smell off. Stick to mineral oils or known wood preserving oils like linseed, tung etc

Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil or flax oil (in its edible form), is a colourless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried, ripened seeds of the flax plant. 
Tung oil or China wood oil is a drying oil obtained by pressing the seed from the nut of the tung tree (Vernicia fordii). 

FYI both the oils you are quoting are vegetable oils. Walnut oil is fine for fingerboards ... I've even used extra virgin olive oil in the past with no issues.  

Which is what I said, “stick to mineral oils OR known preserving oils” such as tung or linseed which have been heat treated for stability. I wouldn’t personally raid the kitchen cupboard for wood finish and not many woodworkers would advise it, I’d rather not encourage bacteria cultures to set up camp. 

I’m not really a fan of mineral oils or the so-called-boiled versions of vegetable based oils, pure tung oil is my usual go to for wood finish and I’ve used it to finish maple necks too. For my rosewood fretboards I use the Crimson oil which is petroleum free

Tung oil is a drying oil as well as linseed... so you don't want to be using them on fingerboards they are actually applying a finish, not simply 'oiling' ...they can accumulate and harden under the fret beads and make future fret work more difficult.

elstoof

I wouldn’t use it on a fretboard either (apart from maple which I have and would use again). I only mentioned it as an example of a commonly used natural finishing oil, as opposed to Sainsbury’s taste the difference walnut oil

ElectricXII

GoldenEraGuitars said:

I would avoid linseed oil and boiled linseed oil 

I’m curious. I’ve used boiled linseed oil to condition rosewood fingerboards for years with no obvious adverse effects.