I am looking at alternatives to using CA glue and ebony dust to fill in fretboard divots.
How easy is it to tint CA glue blank? I know one can get black CA glue from Stewmac, but I am trying to find solutions (no pun intended) closer to home. To my mind it would be a bit messy to apply the glue then tint it at the site.
Is there tint I can add to the glue in the CA bottle. If so, how well does it store?
Your thoughts!
I sometimes use powdered lamp black pigment in CA to make my own black CA. Gotta work fast, and sometimes it is difficult getting it mixed fast enough when using thin, fast CA. I don't mix it in the CA bottle, but make a small batch at a time in a small disposable cup.
I used two part body filler (ex: bondo) to fill my red fir floors when I refinished.
Make sure the surface is roughed up for best adhesion.
After cure and sanding, it accepted oil stain (ex: minwax) like fresh wood.
For your application I would test and compare:
- slow set marine epoxy with epoxy dye
- slow set clear epoxy with epoxy dye and with and without cabosil thickener
- fiberglass resin with cabosil thickener and epoxy dye (pretty much the same thing as the epoxy)
- body filler with epoxy dye (in my experience this one will accept oil-based wood stain; the epoxy probably not so much, check it)
One of these, or some similar, is bound to be friendly.
Edited by - pinenut on 09/30/2025 10:35:11
P.S. The body filler may need a sealant after curing, sanding and tinting.
Don't forget about 'Steinway black' (matching color Sharpie) for touch-ups.
No matter the filler material, I would back-fill those fret slots flat with matching color wood putty and recut, dig it out, after filling the divots.
I set my inlays with CA glue. Before setting the inlay in its cavity, I go around both the edges of the inlay cavity and the inlay with a black Sharpie pen. CA is a solvent for CA glue. On an ebony fingerboard you will not see the glue line.
