Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

I have a bit of a strange question – I think it belongs in H&S, if it belongs anywhere - when using cabinet scrapers for any length of time I get a black stain on my fingertips! Apart from looking a bit alarming it doesn’t seem to irritate my skin or anything, and although it does make me wary of touching light wood, it doesn’t seem to come off very easily (not with soap and water, anyhow). Does anyone else get this? Is it a sign that my acidic hand sweat is slowly eating my scrapers? And what shall I tell my wife when she sees my fingers and asks me what I’ve been doing?

Yes Hepi get the same myself from just about any tool and I use hot water and soap powder and it doesn't remove it, never worried to much about it cos it goes in about a day.

Steve

That makes me feel a bit better – I googled it and couldn’t find any reference to it anywhere, so I was beginning to wonder if I was the odd one out...I was thinking about it some more after I posted and I remembered why I switched to phosphor bronze strings; because regular bronze ones got corroded really quickly on my guitars (way faster than on my friends’ guitars, it seemed), but PB lasted way longer. Coated strings, now that’s another story again...

I make like Michael Jackson when using my cabinet scrapers. I use those white gloves that Japanese taxi drivers use.....my Japanese wife got a load of them from somewhere years ago.

Likely tannins in the wood reacting with the iron in the scraper and your body (hand) chemistry. If that's the cause, lemon juice should remove the staining on your fingers.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a try next time I use the scraper - the neighbours' lemon tree is just over the fence from the shed...

There once was a fellow named Doole
Who found little reds spots on his tool
The Doctor, a cynic
said, "Get out of my clinic!
And wipe off that lipstick, you fool!"