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Thanks all.

I'm resetting the neck on a beautiful old Stetson parlor that I purchased. and used steam to remove the neck, by first heating a spatula, sliding it under the fretboard, then shooting steam under the fretboard (the old remove a fret, drill a small hole in fretslot was useless in this case as the neckblock is very shallow, shallower than the first fretblock. To compound matters, someone had drilled a hole in the neckblock straight throuh to the heel of the neck and glued a hardwood dowel in place to reinforce the neck joint. Yes, pretty sturdy. No, not easy to remove.

Anyway - you can see in the picture I've got a milky discoloration on the top, next to the fretboard, where the steam hit the top. Sorry for the poor cellphone picture. It's the best I can do until my computer upgrade is complete.

I've wiped with Denatured alcohol - no change. I've lightly sanded with 2000 grit - also no soap. When I buff with 0000 steel wool, it dulls the surrounding shellac, as expected, but the milky spots seem to polish up to more of a shine, as if it's a hard, this coating of something. But this wasn't visible until I hit it with steam.

Any ideas on how to remove, so I can french polish the area prior to putting the neck back on? Thanks.

(And yes, I've considered that by french polishing this guitar, it will no longer be an original finish. The thing is, I want to PLAY this guitar, and anyway, there are some issues with it, like the dowel in the neck, and several poorly repaired cracks in the top (which are stable, so I'm gonna leave em alone) that mean this thing will never be in a museum under any circumstances.)

Try heating the spot up with a blow dryer, on high, keeping it moving with your hand close to the spot.
As long as you can keep your hand there (not too hot) you're OK.

Awesome - thanks David! I'll give it a try.

Dave -

You're a magician.... totally gone after 10 minutes of hot air. Thanks!

I love this forum.