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<font color="aqua"> Ok, well I got this abortion Model 6 from Keith (axtogrind) Keith did not do this to this guitar, he got it this way!), and it's going to need a lot of help [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]. I have an idea all picked out for this one and the first step was to remove the frets and the fretboard with a few tools and a houshold iron with steam. Please don't cringe at the idea of me doing this to a Model 6 as this one was brutally abused.
As most of you know I'm very busy in the shop lately so in order to get any projects of mine done, my wife Lisa, is going to have to pitch in [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I was able to snap a few shots as she worked [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
A few before shots:
The veneer was already on the face of the headstock when I received it, it might be removed but it'll be left alone for now.
Pretty rough here but it will all be hidden [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
First she had to remove the frets by tapping them out with a small chisel and mallet. This was fairly easy since the binding was already removed.
After the frets were removed, she started at the body end of the fretboard since it would be easier to hide any initial screw ups there. Lisa rested the iron right on top of the fretboard for a good 5 minutes with the steam setting on high to let the steam from the iron "soak" into the wood. I use the term "soak" very loosely as it's not really wetting the wood to much at all. After a bit, she pushed in a razor blade right between the fretboard and the neck wood, into the actual glue joint as you can see.
It's amazing how easily the razor just slid right in when the glue is warmed up. After she got the razor buried into the end of the fretboard, she started a more sturdier bladed knife on top of the razor and under the fretboard. The key thing to remember was that we could care less about the fretboard and we wanted to keep the neck wood a solid as possible.
The knife in the picture actually didn't work very well because it wasn't "splitting" the woods, it was "spreading" them which would have led to a break on the fretboard which we didn't want because it would have been a pain in the ass to start the procedure again with fragmented wood splinters [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. It also didn't let the iron sit flat on the fretboard to transfer the heat as well so she switched to a putty knife that I sharpened on one side for her. She slowly worked her way down the fretboard, letting the iron sit and warm up each section of glue and then splitting it a little more on the way.
Just about done!
putty knife cam [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
All done!
Nice and clean and only minimal sanding will be needed. If you notice the stuff hanging off the fretboard in the background, it's the glue from the previous binding, not wood from the neck! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
A couple of more pics for you:
Here's a shot of the underside of the fretboard. If you look at where the green arrows are pointing to, you'll see darker areas where you can see the "increments" that she moved with the putty knife.
Hope you enjoyed that, I'm very proud of her! [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]
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As most of you know I'm very busy in the shop lately so in order to get any projects of mine done, my wife Lisa, is going to have to pitch in [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I was able to snap a few shots as she worked [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
A few before shots:
The veneer was already on the face of the headstock when I received it, it might be removed but it'll be left alone for now.
Pretty rough here but it will all be hidden [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
First she had to remove the frets by tapping them out with a small chisel and mallet. This was fairly easy since the binding was already removed.
After the frets were removed, she started at the body end of the fretboard since it would be easier to hide any initial screw ups there. Lisa rested the iron right on top of the fretboard for a good 5 minutes with the steam setting on high to let the steam from the iron "soak" into the wood. I use the term "soak" very loosely as it's not really wetting the wood to much at all. After a bit, she pushed in a razor blade right between the fretboard and the neck wood, into the actual glue joint as you can see.
It's amazing how easily the razor just slid right in when the glue is warmed up. After she got the razor buried into the end of the fretboard, she started a more sturdier bladed knife on top of the razor and under the fretboard. The key thing to remember was that we could care less about the fretboard and we wanted to keep the neck wood a solid as possible.
The knife in the picture actually didn't work very well because it wasn't "splitting" the woods, it was "spreading" them which would have led to a break on the fretboard which we didn't want because it would have been a pain in the ass to start the procedure again with fragmented wood splinters [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. It also didn't let the iron sit flat on the fretboard to transfer the heat as well so she switched to a putty knife that I sharpened on one side for her. She slowly worked her way down the fretboard, letting the iron sit and warm up each section of glue and then splitting it a little more on the way.
Just about done!
putty knife cam [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
All done!
Nice and clean and only minimal sanding will be needed. If you notice the stuff hanging off the fretboard in the background, it's the glue from the previous binding, not wood from the neck! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
A couple of more pics for you:
Here's a shot of the underside of the fretboard. If you look at where the green arrows are pointing to, you'll see darker areas where you can see the "increments" that she moved with the putty knife.
Hope you enjoyed that, I'm very proud of her! [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]
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