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I built a bouzouki last year, strung mando-cello, and the soundboard cracked on both sides of the bridge. Eight bass strings were too much for a thin spruce (0.085") soundboard. I have opened the soundboard with an iron and pallet-knife but can't get enough heat under the fretboard onto the Spanish heel.The fretboard has to come off and I don"t want to damage it.

My question is, what can I heat the titebond on the fretboard with that won't damage it. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Bob

pull the frets, use a clothes iron about half setting ... wait for the heat to penetrate, go slowly with a pallet knife

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Tony:
That is what I was hoping to avoid. A hair dryer gun just doesn't have enough heat.
I may have to settle.

Bob

Yup, a clothes iron works great. Here's a tutorial I did awhile ago on how to remove a fretboard

Or you can use a side bending blanket if you have one. Some folks use a heat lamp too, but you really have to watch those as they can get really hot...

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Something else that works is a heating blanket for mandolin sides if you have the setup. I've used it to remove bound fingerboards (with care) and it works great. Everyone has an iron though!

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Brad Tucker

You did not use expoxy, did you?

Good to know - thanks!

I have decided to work at the speed of light.

I will mask everything around the fretboard with aluminum foil and shine two 150 watt spotlights on it for long enough to soften the glue and use a pallet-knife to start the removal. I will try using a "B" string to see if it works well for the full length. I wound use heat-lamps if I had them.

Thanks for all the help. The various ideas and the tutorials have been useful and I will post any good procedures that come out of this project.

Bob

How did the heat lamp work?

How did the heat-lamp work? crummy.

The heat-lamp, using two 150 watt spotlights, could not deliver enough heat to soften the glue.

A hot air gun (hair-dryer) came close but not enough heat. A more powerful heater might do it.

The thing-a-ma-bob that did the job was a clothes iron on medium over the frets. I will find out later whether the frets have any problem. No scorch marks helps.

It looks like Tony was right about the iron. I hope that he wasn't right about the frets.

Now to design a bracing system that will give me good sound and be strong enough for eight bass strings.

Thanks for the advice.

Bob

unkabob: I'm suprised that the heat lamp did not work. I've removed guitar fingerboards that were glued with epoxy quite easily with a single heat lamp.
Tom

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Tom:
The fretboard just wouldn't heat up fromthe lamps at about eighteen inches. I may not have given it enough time to work but it just didn't pick up much heat.

Bob

I just had an idea (a bit late), but about a side bending heat blanket?

I have used a household iron and a cake icer spatula. The long metal thin kind.

Bob: Think that 18" is not close enough.If you have to do it again try around 6" to 8" and moniter the heat closely. The dark color of most fingerboards takes in the heat very nicely and after a few minutes you should be able to work a palette knife or other thin tool in to help with the process.Try to get the tool in the full width of the neck then advance the heat and tool the full length of the board.You may want to put some sort of protection,cardboard wrapped in aluminum foil, over areas you don't want to heat such as the guitar soundboard. Good luck.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

I used two pallet-knives that I bought at Dollarama but the heat from the iron softened the glue in the handle of one and it came off. The cake spatula sounds more stable.

Bob

I'll second what Todd say. I took a fretboard off with a cloths iron that was adhered with epoxy. Seems like it took maybe twenty minutes or so of moving the iron back and forth and working a pallet knife.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Or a water bed heater.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

I have a heating blanket that is specifically made for finger boards from Tom Durr at Doc's Mandolins. I have one for bridges also, as well as sides. His blanket system is great.
Sounds like a shameless plug.
Bob