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Or at least tell me what works for you.
For steaming out necks, etc.

I've always set up a pot with a hose attached at my wife's kitchen range, but now I want something for the shop.
Yeah, I know, fire insurance!

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No pix but any cappuccino maker with a steam wand is fine. Ours is retired from brewing coffee but gives a nice head of steam. Unscrew the tip, clamp on a good, thick-walled rubber hose (auto parts), with a needle (Stew-Mac) on the other end. Having a valve to adjust the amount of steam is good.

Shark

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

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POT!


das right, me use pot
on stove.

simple.


blessings
Padma

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Krups coffee machine , fuel hose and football (soccer to you US folks) needle, a pair of small hose clamps.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

The neighbors put a big pile of stuff out on the side of the road with a "FREE" sign on it a couple of days ago. In said pile, was an old Krups espresso maker and steamer. I'll be using that... Already have a cobbled together hose and needle...

-Mark

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

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warning noob questiong! why do you steam the neck?

Neck re-set.
A hole is drilled at the 14th fret dot at an angle toward its intersection with the dovetail slot. Steam is injected thru a little pipe to soften the glue in the dovetail joint, so the neck can be removed. Heat is also applied to the fretboard where it is glued to the top, and a palette knife is used to separate them.
The angle of trim is adjusted on the neck set and re-glued.

I'm out shopping today for a second-hand cappacino machine, but I sure like the idea of a dedicated steam maker like that Shark.

Thanks guys!

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I'm also using an old cappuccino maker I found at the Goodwill for a few bucks. While I was there I also picked up a steam iron for $1.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

14th fret, really David?
I always go through the 15th fret slot, which almost always puts you right over the mortise.
Two holes, either side of the dovetail--one for the needle, one for an escape route for the steam and pressure. Then after a bit, change holes to get at the other side of the dovetail.
Anyone else do it that way?
BTW--the fret covers those two holes nicely when reinstalled.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

they taste better than boiled.


blessings
Padma

_________________
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Audiences and dispensations on Thursdays ~ by appointment only.


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Steve,
Right, I miss typed about the fret #, that is how I usually do it, but this is a 50's Gibson LG-1 and I've picked the dot as the closest thing, I can drill a bigger hole, so only one, and I have a matching dot on hand. I'm not doing a fret job and don't want to mess with pulling a fret...

Anyone have a dimension or pic of an LG-whatever for the dimension to the dovetail "gap"? I've done Martins, but this is the first neck-pull on a Gibson in my memory.

I haven't started yet, just got back from shopping. I went with an industrial steam cleaner, should go a bit faster!

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I use a pressure cooker with a hose out the top into an Erlenmeyer flask then back out through a basketball pump needle into the joint. The pressure cooker heats up on a little stove top burner.

I have one like Howard's. Some Italian brand. Red. Got it at Kmart. They are so inexpensive now, just go get one. They work great!! Love mine for repairing dents and dings.

Mike

I decided to go "vintage" like everything else I do. I work pretty hard keeping the shop RH low, so I decided to keep the steam in the kitchen.
I've got $8 in it.

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I will go with the expresso maker. The boiler is cast aluminum with an over-temperature cut-out at the bottom and the lid has a pressure-relief built in. The one that I used has a flange joint on the expresso line which I blocked with aluminum sheet. The milk steam line has a valve to control flow. It works well and fairly safely.

Bob

Bob

Well this is all rather entertaining and vindicating for me, too, guys. The last time I steamed anything, I used a neoprene hose leading from a tea pot on my stove. I laughed at myself at the time. It was such a contraption. But it worked. Makes me feel good to know that I am not the only one who ever did such a thing.

A wallpaper stripper for me (dual use) with a 1/4" BSP connector to a neoprene hose and terminating with a football needle - works a treat!

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Here it is at the end of the day, and I've gone full circle, from posting a query about what you guys use, to going shopping for "stuff" to use, and now the job is done, the neck is off, and the stuff is put away.

As much as I rag you guys, I really love this place.

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It just occurred to me that there are two kinds of steam, low pressure and high. Seems the tea kettle approach is better for your needs. The high pressure stuff is good for spot work. Dents & dings and so on.

Mike

Got it, and glad the neck is now off! It always seems like it's downhill after that.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Mike, that tea kettle can put out a pretty good blast of steam, I had to keep it on a very low fire to control it.

Steve, I ended up going thru the 15th fret and had to aim "uphill" to get the gap. The dot marker would have been about the same, except aiming downhill.
I knew that Gibson necks are a bit more of a struggle to remove, and this one was. The cheeks were glued to the sides...

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I did a Norlin era Gibson Hummingbird recently, and it had a straight (not tapered) dovetail. It also had a cracked neck block (and sides, and cracked just about everything), and some yuk-y type of glue everywhere. Combined, it made it a quite 'interesting' neck reset.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Hi Arnt,
I've never seen a straight tenon Gibson joint, but I haven't seen everything either.

I saw a Gibson SJ-200 with the top glued on OVER the dovetail tenon!
I didn't remove the neck, just saw it. The person resetting the neck was knowledgeable about these, and removed the fretboard first.

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