Fretboard Removal Dilemma

[PunkRockerLuke]

I was planning on removing the rosewood fretboard from my stratocaster knockoff neck but I ran into a problem. My mothers iron has a busted steam function. Could I just soak a t-shirt in water and use it that way or should I just borrow one that has a working steam function

[Mickguard]

I was planning on removing the rosewood fretboard from my stratocaster knockoff neck but I ran into a problem. My mothers iron has a busted steam function. Could I just soak a t-shirt in water and use it that way or should I just borrow one that has a working steam function

You don't need steam. The heat alone will do the job. That tutorial needs to be rewritten.

[PunkRockerLuke]

OK Thank You

Edited May 17, 2008 by PunkRockerLuke

[guitar2005]

OK Thank You

But steam does help a little. When I did it on my Ibanez, I used a damp towel over the fretboard.

[Mickguard]

OK Thank You

But steam does help a little. When I did it on my Ibanez, I used a damp towel over the fretboard.

No, it's completely unneccessary. It only serves to introduce moisture into the wood, presenting a greater risk of warpage or other damage.

Really, a thinned, sharpened putty knife and heat is all it takes to get through the glue.

[Mattia]

Titebond and epoxy will release with heat alone. Hide glue requires moisture.

[guitar2005]

OK Thank You

But steam does help a little. When I did it on my Ibanez, I used a damp towel over the fretboard.

No, it's completely unneccessary. It only serves to introduce moisture into the wood, presenting a greater risk of warpage or other damage.

Really, a thinned, sharpened putty knife and heat is all it takes to get through the glue.

Bah... Whatever. I know that without a bit of moisture, I would have just dried up the glue. I'm with Mattia on this one.

[Mickguard]

Titebond and epoxy will release with heat alone. Hide glue requires moisture.

Come on, Mattia. Do you really think he's working with a neck that used hide glue? Jeez. You're just being contrary. As usual.

The fact is, using steam is much more likely to damage the fretboard and definitely the neck itself. So what's the point in taking the risk if heat alone will do the job just as well, and just as quickly, and with much less mess? Why suggest to people they take more of a risk than necessary?

Now, it stands to reason that the less moisture you introduce during this process, and the less heat you use, the more likely you'll be to have salvagable parts. This is pure common sense.

Guitar2005-- have you tried both methods? When you have, you'll understand that drying glue is not an issue. At all. It literally takes five minutes to remove a neck with heat alone.

See, I've done this both ways. So I know what I'm talking about.

In fact, I've found it much easier to clean up the glue using heat alone. Most of the glue actually comes off on the knife. And if you work fast enough, you'll be able to scrape off most of the residue, since it'll still be warm. A little bit of acetone cleans up the rest. The steam method makes this much messier--the liquified glue seeps deeper into the wood and rehardens there.

Another important thing about steam --when I removed the fretboard on a mahogany neck using steam, the moistured raised/weakened the fibers --enough so that a bad jab with the putty knife actually tore a bit of the wood away (I didn't have this problem with the maple neck I did at the same time). Luckily the worse tear was on the inside of the neck, i.e., along the truss rod channel.

Like I've said before (the last time this was discussed), the most important part of this is making sure the tool is prepared properly -- I have a putty knife here that has been flattened as thin as razor blade. Especially on the leading edge, which I continue to hone during the removal process. It would be even better to have two, but one works well for me.

I also heat the blade during the process-- just slip the tip of it under the iron while you're heating the fretboard --gets the tip nice and hot, the glue simply melts away.

In fact, I suspect if you can find a way to keep the blade heated during the process, then you wouldn't need to heat the fretboard AT ALL. Think about what you're trying to do here-- you're trying to compromise the bond formed by the glue. Wood glue produces a matrix of its own that links the fibers of the two woods. The blade severs the matrix--the heat simply makes it easier to do this.

[guitar2005]

Guitar2005-- have you tried both methods? When you have, you'll understand that drying glue is not an issue. At all. It literally takes five minutes to remove a neck with heat alone.

No - I only tried it with moisture. Maybe I'll try it on a junk neck with just heat and see what happens.

If you play around with dry yellow glue, add a bit of water to it. What happens? It softens. This is just a simple fact.

What you say is interesting though and worth a try.

[Mattia]

Mick, you misunderstand me, I'm with you on this one, and not quite sure about the 'being contrary' statment (ok, so I like playing devil's advocate, but not purely for the sake of doing so..), but whatever...

What I meant to say was: You just need heat, *unless you're sure* hot hide was used to glue on a fingerboard. In other words, if you're steaming off a vintage martin board from the pre-war era, you'll probably not get very far with heat alone. If you're getting the board off of any instrument built past 1950, more or less, go with straight-up heat, like you say, and leave the steam off unless you also feel like getting some free neck or fretboard bending action to go with your fretboard removal. If it doesn't work right-quick (ie, if it doesn't budge within 5-10 minutes of full-on heat) you'll figure it out soon enough, and a wet towel's easily found.

I've never removed a fingerboard with any moisture. I reserve steam for getting rid of dents and bending sides and binding.