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Double Bass Chinese Cello/Bass Fingerboards

#21
i am mereley trying to offer help to others, whom are asking for it, in areas which i have some experience.
if you don't like what i have to say, scroll down.
i brought up "antiques road show" because of the half dozen or so times i've flicked past it, it seems like someone has diminished the value of thier 18th century hutch or a 17th century lowboy by 90-99 %. sorry if you guys didn't get that.
the same aplies to refinishing musical instruments, aside from the fact that you are destroying a piece of history that is far bigger than you or me.
if you have no respect for that, i'm so sorry to piss on your parade.
this poor guy was asking for help to remove fingerboards without destroying an instrument, and yet somehow, i am the butcher.
i strongly suggest you offer some advice, or start a new thread entitled:
i think shawn m goodwin is a stupid douche because....
screw you guys, i'm goin' to sleep...
smg.
 
#25
Soooooooo, I'll just ignore the flame war started by "the butcher" and try and bring things back on topic. Though I do have to throw in that his method will absolutely destroy the fingerboard/neck. Breaking the glue joint with blunt knocks works in some applications and is even mentioned briefly in the Weisshaar/Shipman book. Unfortunately when you're dealing with low quality ebony and maple, the wood tends to break before the glue joint does. Especially if said company glues them with an extremely strong glue joint to avoid fingerboards popping off in great numbers as they have in the past. I've tried the blunt force method not out of practicality, but unfortunately out of impatience and frustration. Bad luthier! Bad luthier! :scowl:

I have reports of a broken neck at a school today I need to pickup and repair. This will be a perfect opportunity to try my larger blanket. I hope it works as well as the smaller one did. I was happy not to have to deal with a puzzle of ebony and maple chips.

I'll look into that speed control Ken, that seems like a promising idea, thanks!

I'll report back after trying it out..
 
#27
Yes, let's get back on track. I haven't tried heat blankets in luthiery, but I used them extensively when I ran a resin casting business. A good source for them is www.mcmaster.com. Start at catalog page 507. They have an incredible variety, and lots of info. Prices are probably not the lowest possible, but they are the very definition of a tight ship. You usually get your stuff the next day.
 
#28
#30
It takes a few minutes for the heat to get to the other side of the wood, if you know what I mean, so I turn on the blanket and go and do something else while the timer ticks away.

It depends on the density and thickness of what you are heating. I have an old clothes iron, too, that I'll use for some jobs.
 
#33
I could not be more happy with how this turned out. :D

It really makes up for the frustration I felt when dealing with split ebony and maple.. :rollno:

3534128018_310026420b.jpg

Here's the beheaded neck of the cello. As you can see, there is a tiny maple split off the nut itself. This makes it obvious that the fingerboard would have serious issues as well using a hot knife and alcohol alone..

3534128140_7406cb9574.jpg

I put on the repair blanket and tied it down to the fingerboard with some cheap nickel bow grip wire. The block of wood up top is just to keep the top of the blanket from bending down and touching/melting the varnish on the pegbox.
 
#34
3534128280_c9121be934.jpg

Shown here I have the voltage regulator I built using parts from the "big orange box". It's a simple dimmer switch attached to an outlet. The only purpose of the outlet is so that I can plug in my modified voltmeter to monitor the voltage. I checked it periodically with an infrared thermometer to make sure it wasn't burning itself up. 75 volts was enough to keep the blanket at around 300 degrees for somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes.

3534128446_c65e3177a8.jpg

As you can see, the fingerboard came off perfectly. I used the double knife technique described in the Weisshaar/Shipman book and with a consistant almost fluid downward push, it peeled off like a bumper sticker. There was no popping and crackling like I'd usually expect.


Thanks again guys, this is now my new favorite tool!:smug:
 
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#37
Cody, that'd be 75 Volts, not 75 Watts, yeah? If it were 75 Amps (current) i'd expect to see some molten wires or flames and maybe a corpse or two!!

You didn't say in your first post that the neck was off the instrument.

If you had, I would have let you in on my tip, which is to leave the FB and neck assembly on the back shelf of your car in the sun for a few hours! Same result.
 
#38
Matthew Tucker said:
Cody, that'd be 75 Volts, not 75 Watts, yeah? If it were 75 Amps (current) i'd expect to see some molten wires or flames and maybe a corpse or two!!
Click to expand...

Edited. It's obvious I'm no electrician and it's not my lingo. Though I was happy to see that my voltage regular contraption didn't blow up when I first plugged it in, or worse getting electricuted by the housing..
 
#40
Update:

After using this method several times now, I have to, for conscience sake, make an addendum here.

I had been setting the voltage regulator to 75VAC, thus making the temperature of the blanket somewhere around 300 degrees. I would leave this setup for about 5-10 minutes and wait for the heat to transfer to the neck. Using this setting, I had some of the cheaper quality ebony develop numerous tiny splits under the heat. My solution was to first liberally oil the board with mineral oil, use sticks and rubber bands instead of nickel wire to affix the repair blanket, and set the regulator to 20VAC. The significantly decreased voltage made the temp hover around 135-160 degress. Leave it on the board longer, say 20 minutes or so for the same result. The board will still peel right off quite easily.

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