removing epoxied fretboard

[Kary Karahadian]

Any tips on removing a fretboard glued down with epoxy? Board moved a little and needs to come off. I'll use a heat blanket. Will the epoxy start to release at about the same temp as TB would?

[Alan Carruth]

More or less. Epoxies can vary.

[Marshall Dixon]

... Will the epoxy start to release at about the same temp as TB would?

In my experience epoxy glues are the easiest to separate with heat. The problem with heating one part is the potential for separation of the underlying structure. The neck shaft shouldn't be a problem, but the braces and center seam could be effected in the body portion.

What I've done is to work on one portion of the board to get a separation started, then with a hot palette knife, work it off. Once you get it started the epoxy just seems to melt.

Be cautious of using epoxy removers. The residue left behind will cause a joint failure. Another lesson I learned the hard way.

[Barry Daniels]

Last one I removed came off really quickly. I used a fingerboard sized heat blanket and it took less than 10 minutes. I slipped a putty knife into the joint at the corner over the body and pop goes your weasel.

[Kary Karahadian]

Thanks for the help gents. "...pop goes your weasel." you weren't kidding Barry. i've never had a board come loose but this came off so cleanly it surprised me. I've always built classicals with no truss rod, this is the first SS, with a rod. Made me wonder how adjusting a rod doesn't pop off a board in seconds flat!

[Barry Daniels]

So, let the glue harden up and then you can remove it easily with a scraper.

[Dick Hutchings]

Makes me wonder if this wouldn't be the ideal glue for neck to body since only heat is required for removal.

[Barry Daniels]

Another advantage of epoxy is that it adds no water so there is less of a tendency for the neck to warp a bit after the fretboard is attached. It is all I use for this particular joint.

[Kary Karahadian]

I follow Mario's toothing protocol from years back and it has always worked well.

[Travis Brown]

Makes me wonder if this wouldn't be the ideal glue for neck to body since only heat is required for removal.

I stopped using steam pretty much altogether since switching to heat probes for dovetails. Cleaner, no finish blush, no swelling. Is there a glue that won't release with just heat? Seems to me steam is an ancient, archaic ritual from before the invention of magic electrons.

I think I would find epoxy the most annoying to clean up on a neck joint after getting it apart. Maybe good for build, but there would be gnashing of teeth by whomever ended up doing the neck reset down the road.

Maybe I'm just too partial to protein glues.

[Barry Daniels]

We are talking about gluing the fretboard to the neck with epoxy, not the neck dovetail into the body. I think everyone would agree that epoxy should not be used for that.

[Travis Brown]

We are talking about gluing the fretboard to the neck with epoxy, not the neck dovetail into the body. I think everyone would agree that epoxy should not be used for that.

One would hope. I was responding to Dick Hutchings who was asking about that application.

[Barry Daniels]

Oh sorry. I should have looked back in the thread.