Complicated Fingerboard Removal

[Kenny]

well, in 2 days we had scorching heat and rain

i happened to be gluing on my FB and the FB warped and glued badly. so now i need to remove it and try again

hereres the deal tho, about 1/8 of the Fb stands on unfinished redwood

this wouldnt be my first removal job, but im concerned about the spray damaging the rest of the in progress guitar

any suggestions?

[Xanthus]

Spray? I'm a bit confused as to what you're referring to. I use a towel and steam from a clothes iron to take mine off. So long as the wood is all unfinished, I don't see a problem. I'd be more concerned with sanding off all the glue so you don't have funky patches when it comes time to paint.

[Kenny]

let me show you what im talking about

see how little meat i hvae between the cutaway. the redwood is very porus and soaks up moisture

im afraid it will crack in..well..places that might make me have to scrap this project

[bluesman94]

This picture was confusing me so much until I noticed the frets were fanned. Are you afraid the heat will cause it to crack?

[Xanthus]

Man, that guitar is so sex-ay..... I want one bad. drool...

Anyways, I think I get what you're trying to say a bit better now. I don't think you have to be concerned about it cracking. With the proper application of heat (i.e. not going overboard) I don't think you'll have a problem.

But whereas you're concerned about the neck join area, I'd say start your removal from the nut end and only use the minimal amount of steam to get the job done.

I'd personally be more concerned with making a new fretboard. I wouldn't trust the fretjob to be level/true on a board that I peeled off my guitar, ya know?

Or, if you want to do it the Gary-trademarked most-difficult-way-you-can-think-of and you're that concerned about it, you could always pop the frets off that are on/near the body, route off the fretboard halfway, and pry the other half off!

I definitely don't want you to scrap your project, but what other choices do you have? The board's gotta come off. Just go slow and start from the nut end and you'll be good.

[Kenny]

thats what im thinking, but the board is thin so i dont imagine me not being able to make it submit :-p

meaning even if it does curl and get disgusting, just get a few more cauls and a few more clamps. i used a radius block on the area where it glued perfect, and i used a guitar strap where it didnt, wont do that again

and scrapping the fretboard....thats easily 100+ hours of precision cutting, routing, sphaping, and inlaying

nah :-p