Shamisen Fingerboard #6 (Pua Rosa)

Description

Here’s a few things you should know about this fingerboard!

Gluing

Firstly, the fingerboard and tenjin extension are both sealed with shellac. It’s important to remove the shellac before gluing the pieces to the sao/tenjin, so please sand with 120 grit sandpaper until the coating is gone.

These fingerboards are very oily hardwood, which doesn’t bond well with regular wood glue. A popular way to glue such oily hardwoods is with epoxy, first wiping the wood with acetone to remove some oil from the surface. I heartily recommend Smith’s Oak & Teak Epoxy, which is formulated specifically for oily woods. It is very easy to use and ensures a strong bond (note, acetone should not be applied to the wood when using this glue). It’s my favorite epoxy when gluing such oily woods.

Both the sao and fingerboard coated with Smith’s Oak & Teak Epoxy

Tighter Margins

Please note the Pua Rosa fingerboards have very, very little margin. I only added 2mm of margin on the widths, and 1mm margin on the thickness as well. Minimal wood waste felt like a good idea at the time, but afterwards I realized that such tight margins demand perfectly precise placement when gluing. Unfortunately, by that point I had already cut them. (Oops!) Understanding that extra margin would be much easier for all skill levels to achieve a good result, I also prepared a batch of Laotian Birdseye Rosewood fingerboards with generous margins. Unless you’re confident about gluing the fingerboard precisely in the center of your sao (and I mean perfectly centered, not a millimeter off), I’d recommend checking out the Birdseye Rosewood fingerboards to ensure spectacular results!

Birdseye Rosewood (Left), Pua Rosa (Right)

Tenjin Extension

The Tenjin Extension is a strip of wood made from the same wood as the fingerboard (although it wouldn’t necessarily have to be). When this strip is attached to the tenjin and the fingerboard is attached to the sao, joining them together will make the fingerboard look like it’s flowing into the tenjin. Aside from gluing the strip to the tenjin before it’s shaped, the construction process of the tenjin is the same as without attaching the extension. An optional but very elegant visual feature. The Tenjin Extension is a free add-on for your fingerboard, but you’re not required to use it.