wisdom727 Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 I drilled and CA-glued 1/4" abalone dot markers on my ebony fretboard. One of the marker holes was a few thou" too deep. What should I do? Drill it out carefully, and try again? Or can I just drop some CA over the marker, then sand/polish it flush with my dremel? Tnx, Wis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 (edited) So did you write "thou" because you weren't sure how to spell thousandths? I wasn't either so I typed it into Word to make sure it was right. Anyway, if it's only a few thousanths, can you sand the board down? Or, if you can't, I wouldn't drill it out, I'd disolve the CA glue, or use heat to get it to release. Guesss you may need to drill out the center to be able to do that, but at least it will leave your edges clean. Andy DePaule of luthiersupply.com suggested I glue a toothpick across the top of my inlays with a touch of water soluble glue, so when I place them in the hole they don't sink down to far. Guess that was good advice, although I'm sorry it can't help you now. Best, Todd Edited January 6, 2009 by ToddW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom727 Posted January 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 Thanks, Todd. First, I think I will try spreading some CA on top, then sand it down and polish. If that fails, I'll drill out the mess and start with a fresh abalone dot. Cheers, Wis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Glue another dot on top with CA and sand flush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddW Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Glue another dot on top with CA and sand flush. That'll only work if the entire edge of the dot is low, not if only the center is low. otherwise when he sands it to the board radius, the transition will show worse than what he's planning to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Glue another dot on top with CA and sand flush. That'll only work if the entire edge of the dot is low, not if only the center is low. otherwise when he sands it to the board radius, the transition will show worse than what he's planning to try. on an abolone dot it will just look like the natural stripes they can have anyway... but i agree that its best to drill it out, fill the hole slighty and redrill. I find the best way to remove pearl dots is to drill though them with a smaller drill bit, that generally (9 times out of 10) puts enough pressure on the CA to get it to release and if it doesnt you can use the hole to pry/chip the rest out this is easier than trying to drill bang on the centre of the 1/4" dot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 You could try using a heat gun and a razor blade or small pin. Get it hot enough to soften or release the glue and just pry it out carefully. Or do a combo, like do what Wez said first, like drill a small hole then apply some heat as that hole will give you some leverage. You could try a soldering iron even, but I'm not sure how well it'd transfer throughout the shell, haven't tried it on shell. I had great luck with a soldering iron though when I did my fretboard glue up as I left in the set pins I used for placement and they were extremely well epoxied in, however I just touched the soldering iron to the pin for a couple seconds and slid out with no effort at all. Heat guns have worked for me for inlay removals, but its nice to have more direct application of heat sometimes, especially if you had this problem on an already fretted board or something, so trying the soldering iron is something that came to mind. Best of luck. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cSuttle Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Oh come on. With how much work it take to make a guitar, you're going to fret (no pun intended) other this? Please. Drill it out, fill the bottom of the hole to the right depth, test fit the new dot to make sure you don't do this again, and finish the job right. What is it doing to take, five minutes. Don't cut corners or you will be sorry you did. Even if know one else can see it, it will always bug you knowing it's not right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 like do what Wez said first, like drill a small hole then apply some heat as that hole will give you some leverage. you missed my point... drilling through the inlay is normally enough to make it pop out... no heat is needed and it will be out before you have chance to heat up a soldering iron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom727 Posted January 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 Thank you, all. As cSuttle said, "Even if know one else can see it, it will always bug you knowing it's not right." So last night, I took WezV's advice, and drilled out the marker with a smaller brad-point bit. The left-over ring came out by prying it up with an exacto blade. I filled the hole with some ebony dust mixed with CA. Tonight, I re-drilled, then glued in a fresh dot. I'm back on track now. :-) Cheers, Wis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cSuttle Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 Way to go. Glad it work out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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