Removing Dot Inlays

[whitey]

hey,i've been looking for a tutorial,but cant find one,i have an ebony fretboard,and i'm looking to remove the fret markers,and then fill with something,dowels?so wat should i use and how do i remove them?

thanks

[AlGeeEater]

I believe you can drill them our with a brad point drill bit. Use them as a center punch then start drilling.

[Southpa]

So many different ways but here is what I would do. Mark the exact centers of the dots and then drill slightly, just so the point of the bit makes it thru the inlay material and juuust touches the underlying wood. Then pick out the dot remnants with a small sharp instrument. If you want to salvage the dots ie. real abalone for another guitar then you have to carefully try to lift them out. But you will likely wind up chipping and cracking some of them.

Fine sand the fretboard until you have enough dust for refilling the dots. Whicker in Ca (superglue) and pack / soak in layers of ebony dust until the surface of the dot is "proud", ie. a little above the surface. It may look a bit like a little mound of crap on your fretboard but by the time you've sanded them flush the dot will be almost gone. You could pull this off very well with ebony because its so dark, but the lighter you go the more obvious it looks. Just make sure you mix things well, pack tight enough to avoid air pockets and avoid contaminating the dust. If there are any trouble spots you could dremel lightly and refill.

Here is a maple tele neck that I made and inlayed with this method using gumwood dust and CA glue.

Edited June 19, 2005 by Southpa

[whitey]

hmm,i now no how to remove them,i wont be using them again,there mother of pearl,so i guess i should keep them,but the bit were u said ''Whicker in Ca (superglue) and pack / soak in layers of ebony dust '' throws me,it makes sense,using the sawdust to fill the holes,but wat is this ca glue?

[JPL]

wat is this ca glue?

←

CA is superglue.

Have you pulled the frets yet?

[whitey]

no,but i am willing if that is the only way to fill the holes,i'm going to remove the dots,fill them up,and purchase an inlay overlay from gsr,but my design will not cover the dots,so i'll remove them,but i'm ordering an ebony fingerboard for my 6 string bass,so i can get the saw dust off that without removing the frets of the one i'm removing dots from,so wat exactly do i do with the superglue and dust?

Edited June 19, 2005 by whitey

[Guest gsrguitars]

so wat exactly do i do with the superglue and dust?

←

Mix em'!

[Devon Headen]

You'll want to fill the cavity with wood dust, then wick the CA into the wood dust. If you try to mix the two outside of the cavity the mixture hardens immediately. Might want to do it in two or three steps (i.e. fill the hole part of the way with dust, wick glue in, more dust, more glue, etc.) instead to make sure all the dust is soaked in glue.

[whitey]

ok,well i'm sorta getting the idea,will start in more detail after my vacation,i have already removed one inlay fine,will wait till i recieve my other ebony neck and start on the filling,will try a test first in a small drilled hole on some scrap.thanks for the help

whitey