Steaming neck joints

[Default]

Any real trick to this? I have an ancient KayKraft acoustic sitting on my bench and thought it might be a worthy sacrifice.

 

[cjd-player]

From what I have read about it, you need to remove the 14th fret and drill holes down into the neck joint through the fret slot. Then the steam goes into one or both of those holes. I don't remember exactly.

Seems to me there was a thread some time back that talked about how Guild necks were the most difficult of all to steam off. Apparemtly sometimes the 14th fret was not the place where the holes needed to be drilled or something like that.

I know the steaming time is also important.

Too short and you break wood.

Too long and you cause other damage like the fretboard or top coming unglued.

Caution is the operative word.



Found the thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6280&p=63139&hilit=steaming+neck+joint#p63139

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Google it! There's some great step-by-step neck removal out there.

 

[capnjuan]

Dang ... :evil: I thought this was gonna be a food thread; how to prepare steamed neck bones for BBQ, Latin, or Caribbean chow ...

Agree w/ the others default, if you do it just right, you should be okay.... J

 

[dklsplace]

Specific fret depends on the particular guitar. Yes, google it! There's lots of cool/good info on the web.

Not only is time important, but volume/pressure of steam. I use an espresso machine & have to have a manual relief valve inline so I can dial up or back on the amount of steam. Otherwise there's way too much pressure.

 

[chazmo]

Interesting! Is steam really needed for this? Are we talking about bolt-on necks? Drilling holes? Oh my.

I thought an iron on the frets was sufficient to transmit enough heat to get the fingerboard unglued off the soundboard...

 

[Default]

Yeah, I saw that page too, Chazmo. Thankfully, it's an ancient plywood guitar, so I can't really screw it up. I was going to hook a hose to my wife's pressure cooker, but it sounds like it would be too much steam pressure. :?

 

[The Guilds of Grot]

Here's a link I remember from a previous thread. I thought it was really comprehensive.

Neck Reset!

 

[Default]

Thanks, bookmarked!

 

[jp]

Here's another one. I posted this on the aforementioned thread.

 

[ce blues]

check out the Musical Instrument Maker's Forum (MIMF), they have extensive discussions regarding almost any aspect of musical instrument construction and/or repair.
ce

 

[Default]

Thanks, ce!

I have an insatiable curiosity about how things go together or come apart. I should have been either an engineer or a demolition expert. :roll: