To setup and cut one inlay like was in it is just another budget increase. įirst I will drop in an inlay, that is close to the size of the orig cavity, and is from a Gibson Not an easy bind with the fancy extension, but I have done a few so know the tricks. Then its time to get it glued into place and prep for binding Bernard pliers will do the compressing, they have a flat plane jaw set. Then when its ready to glue on, I can compress it from the center, with glue and clamps to get max push and less chance of excessive neck forward pull. You can see how frets drive by wedging kerfed wood, into a curvature. I will fret it off the neck, to gain maximum board compression. You can see the cupping in the pics, and I showed one of the cupped fret wires in my fingers, its that severe.Then I dye the board, re-slot to proper depth for new wire. Its fill/level/fill low spots/level, over and over until you get where you need to be. Then, add a new base board of maple after heat press to flatten, and start the fingerboard repair.Prepping frets slots using Teflon dams to keep my slots cleanable. This is over 100 years ole, it does not go like 'clockwork' in a normal day. Its not always pretty doing this work, and it is how you rebound from difficulty that gets you through a day of Lutherie. Sure, I could have made a new fingerboard and inlay at great cost, but instead I chose the route of saving what it came with. This is when you all need to understand, that there is a Restoration, and then there is what is called CONSERVATION. Got it all cleaned up, low spots filed with #20 and flattened, the sequence is long and tedious.

So I ended up using 6 hacksaw blades and in 2 hours, carefully saw it from the neck. The board let loose with a pop in that area but did not come free cleanly, with an already broken inlay crumbling the rest of the way. I tried to get vinegar down into it, even my steam needle would not free it. This means there is a dip all the way down its center, and ts high on the edges.Īfter several hours of heat, there was no movement in the glue except at the edges The board is severely 'cupped' from shrinkage over time. I was able to free the extension with vinegar injections to soften the hid glue

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