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Old 10-03-2020, 06:15 AM
Arumako Arumako is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 25
Default Binding Channels and Neck Prep

Thanks for commenting Mandobart. Starting to think this thread should be on the "Build and Repair" board... oh well, started here, guess I'll push forward to the finish unless an Administrator decides to move this thread... now that the box is closed, needed to cut the binding channels.



The Dremel Binding Channel Routing tool makes easy work of cutting the channels. Need to be careful to go slow and change directions to prevent tear-out. Super glued the bindings in and scraped the bindings down, filled cracks and tail piece screw holes. Now, onto the neck. The adhesives holding the fret board was extremely hard and no amount of heat on my spatula or the fret board would make it budge. Decided to cut-off the laminations first to see if a clean job could be salvaged.



Was able to get a fairly clean removal of the fret board, but it's gonna take a lot of slow work to get the glue residue clean and flat. Should not have been, but was really surprised by the neck joint. The cut to make space for the dove joint on the top is quite messy. The neck joint doesn't fit well and is filled with the same old hardened glue that was used to secure the fret board onto the neck. For better or worse, this neck is never coming out of the neck block.



After 5 painstaking hours, the neck is clean and flat. I read somewhere that these guitars had mahogany necks, but to my pleasant surprise, the neck is made from Japanese birch which is very similar to maple - very strong, and after 60 years, this neck will stay dead straight...



Ending a really productive weekend by filling the many tuning peg holes on the back of the headstock. I really like using medium viscosity super glue for this type of work. The super glue naturally seeps slowly into the wood. Just keep filling the hole until the glue mounds up and let it dry. Wait 24 hours and take a sharp chisel to flatten out the mounds...



Got the rosewood fret board on order as well as matching vintage tuning pegs. A lot of touch up paint and some lacquer re-coat to finish up. A bit more to go! Thanks for letting me share AGF!
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