refret protecting mop inlays

[robert ellsworth]

hello everyone. well getting ready to do a much needed refret on an acoustic. but a little concerned about the inlay that goes under the frets. been searching through forums for a few days now without any luck. saw one this morning that said something about using epoxy on said frets in this kind of situation. i can't imagine that happening at the factory but if that's the case i'm prob out of luck pulling those frets. i also read somewhere about heat hurting inlays. i don't think they were talking about mop, but i never worked with it. would heating the frets that are right on top of it do any damage. the frets are glued in, i pulled fret # 1 to check. and lastly how about hammering the frets back in? is mop strong enough or should i opt to press at least those frets in? well thanks ahead of time for any help i can get.

[Barry Daniels]

The inlays should have been cut a little short of the fret so that they don't hinder insertion or extraction. So you should have no problem. A little heat to pull the frets should also cause no problems.

[robert ellsworth]

thanks for the quick response. had a closer look and i still think it is cut right up to the slot. i guess the only way to be sure is to pull one. i'll go ahead and do that.

[robert ellsworth]

well pulled 2nd fret. the inlay is all the way up to the slot. thick inlay too, runs the depth of it. one of the pieces moved a little to so have to reset. after looking at the slot and pondering my options i see pretty clearly that i'm gonna have to press them. even if it doesn't hurt the mop, there's too great a chance of breaking it a little loose causing it to vibrate. didn't want to have to press it as i have to build a caul, already have a hammer.ha. well, got enough time to prep the neck and make new nut before fret wire gets here, got plenty to do though. thanks for giving me a little more confidence

[Michael Lewis]

Robert, remember that MOP is rather brittle. Just be gentle around it.

[robert ellsworth]

thanks for the tip about it being brittle. had no issues while pulling frets. though i noticed ( after the 12th ) i was leaving little indentations with my nippers. didn't on my last ( and only )refret. well live and learn. not sure what i'm gonna do yet. i'd hate to leave em, but there not really that noticeable. i'll prob sand it with some 400/600 for a while and see what it does. ( don't want to try and shave the enlays) thanks for the tip. i was planning on pressing, but now it's for sure.

had to edit to thank by name. thank you barry and Michael

[Mark Swanson]

You can steam out the little dents. there the wood is compressed but it's still there, so all you need to do is place a wet rag on top of the dent and then place a soldering iron on it. This will steam the dent back out. Do this before you do any sanding.

[robert ellsworth]

you know someone on another forum told me to try steaming them nick. thanks you gave it more authority. unfortunately i have already hit it with some 600. was thinking about trying that though. i assume after sanding theres not as much of the compressed wood left? it does look much better already but there's a couple spots i would like to try and steam. you think it would still work? and how easy would it be to burn the rosewood with the wet rag there. my brother mentioned that it might burn easy, got me worried. ( though he had done zero luthier work )

[Mark Swanson]

It won't hurt to try steaming. Just don't do too much sanding, or any more than you have to, and it doesn't make sense to sand before you steam out the dents. But you only have used the 600, that doesn't take much off so go for it, you'll have to sand again that's all. Just keep your rag very wet and let the soldering iron make steam and let that do the work, you won't burn the wood as long as the rag is wet.

[robert ellsworth]

right on, thanks for that Nick. i'll try that tomorrow, first thing. yeah i hadn't heard of using the steam before i started sanding. and yeah only 600. 1 i didn't plan on doing any reshaping as the neck is still great. and 2 as i said earlier i don't want to touch the mop. still new to this, plus that's gotta be a ton of extra work. the fret wire should be here friday, I'll post some pics when it's done.

[robert ellsworth]

ok well didn't wait. just tried steaming it tonight and it worked like a charm. i even got an old ding out that had been there i think before i got the guitar. sanded it down a little more and i think anyone would be lucky to see any evidence of them. THANKS ALOT!!!!

[Mark Swanson]

You are welcome...and my name is Mark.

[robert ellsworth]

oh. sorry bout that, was drinking last night, must have gotten confused. thanks for the tip.

[robert ellsworth]

ok sorry it's been a while been busy with a 2nd job i started the other day. well refret is done, did a level and re crown/polish, and made a new nut. gotta get some strings and finish with setup but turned out pretty dang good. thanks again all for your help and tips. and sorry again Mark Swanson, really quite embarrassing even spelling someones name wrong, getting it all wrong. SHEESH!! thanks for all the help.

[Mark Swanson]

It looks good Robert!

[robert ellsworth]

hey thanks Mark i'm learning. slow process, but i wish i would have started sooner. some of it's easier than i though.