Grimzors Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Ok, so what can i use to take apart the fretboard from my neck, the iron i have is broken, at least the steam option(i read a tutorial it says to use steam option and leave it on section of neck for 5 mins etc.) any idea what i could use to take it apart...would a hair dryer work? blasting heat on it, or would that effect the neck or wood? etc, please reply and help me out soon guys, thanks alot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe-Of-Fortyseconds Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 You need the steam to get water into the glue joint, hopeing that it is titebonded on anyway, if it glued on with epoxy you wont get it off. A hairdryer wont be hot enough really i dont think. An iron and a pallette knife is the best option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 You need the steam to get water into the glue joint, hopeing that it is titebonded on anyway, if it glued on with epoxy you wont get it off. A hairdryer wont be hot enough really i dont think. An iron and a pallette knife is the best option I second this - You have to have steam, anything less wont work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 I've taken off four or five boards now, and I found that no steam works just as well as steam. The heat is enough to melt the glue and get the board off--and the frets are sufficient for transferring the heat through the board to the glue. Steam is a plus, I suppose, but only if you're applying the heat from the sides --sending heat through a 5 mm thick board just doesn't make sense to me. And all that moisture can't be great for the wood either. On the other hand, applying steam from the sides definitely makes it easier to introduce the razor. Maybe steam is useful if you're taking off a maple board, since they seem more fragile, more prone to staining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axemannate Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 You dont even need the steam option on the iron. All I do is take an old rag, soak it, put it on top of the fingerboard and let the iron heat it up. I keep a water bottle nearby to resoak it before it gets dry and burns. I can pull off a fingerboard in 20 minites with this method since there is a crapload of steam getting thrown at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimzors Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 Thanks alot for the input guys, ill try this a bit later on tonight with my dad, and wish me luck it is my first project ever, hopefully it wont get messed up :'(, fingerboard is rosewood, and the neck is maple i believe, its a jackson neck, used but basically brand new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimzors Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 K well i got the fretboard off, ive run into a little snag though, how do i route with LED wires, and resistors in the neck? the trus rod is weird, idk if its supposed to be squered or not, but theres that one, and another bar under it, i need lots of help so if someone could tell me how to route the wires you will be god forever, please help :'( thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 You don't need steam. The fretboard is thin enough that the heat gets to the glueline without any steam. I'd go so far as to say no steam is better, since you keep the neck and fretboard dry, which reduces the chance of warpage and raised grain. IMO steam is a vessel to transfer heat, so you don't need it when dealing with thin, accessible pieces like head veneers, fretboards and acoustic bridges. The excpetion is when dealing with hode glue, which will resist extreme heat very well, unless you add moisture to the equation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 You don't need steam. The fretboard is thin enough that the heat gets to the glueline without any steam. I'd go so far as to say no steam is better, since you keep the neck and fretboard dry, which reduces the chance of warpage and raised grain. I've removed fretboards and I can say that steam helps a bunch. Humidity getting into the wood is not really an issue as it is for a very short period of time so I wouldn't worry about warpage too much. It'll dry up within 1 hr. The steam really helps in softening the glue up which in turn allows for removal with less tearout. Raised grain? I didn't have that problem on my tung oiled neck. It held up just fine. Of course, everyone has their preffered method but for me, an iron, over a towel and steam work just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert_the_damned Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 K well i got the fretboard off, ive run into a little snag though, how do i route with LED wires, and resistors in the neck? the trus rod is weird, idk if its supposed to be squered or not, but theres that one, and another bar under it, i need lots of help so if someone could tell me how to route the wires you will be god forever, please help :'( thanks. you need to route into the fretboard to install the LED's (or that's how I'd do it anyway) I'd use surface mount LED's (maybe a few for each inlay depending on what shape inlay I was doing) I'd solder them to a small piece of strip board and then inlay that into the back of the neck for each dot. Then have a thin channel running alongside the inside of the fretboard with the wires in. For the inlays on the outside obviously you'll have to drill right through the fretboard to meet up with the LED's on the otherside (do this before you install the LED's of course!) this diagram sort of shows what I'm trying to say: this is of course completely NOT TO SCALE!!! try using the search function...there have been plenty of people who have done this sort of thing and even a couple of tutorials (as I remember) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimzors Posted December 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 hmm....ok idk if you guys read or not, but i got the fretboard off ok, so next step is LED and wire positioning...does anyone think routing to tiny channels on each side of the truss rod would mess up the neck? not directly next to it but like 1/4 of an inch away from it on each side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 hmm....ok idk if you guys read or not, but i got the fretboard off ok, so next step is LED and wire positioning...does anyone think routing to tiny channels on each side of the truss rod would mess up the neck? not directly next to it but like 1/4 of an inch away from it on each side? No, people do this all the time when they're adding in carbon fiber rods. In fact, you might even consider doing that too as long as you have the neck opened up --put thinner rods in there, lay the led wires on top... or a regular size rod, then make grooves in them for the led wires.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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