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Help a Noob defret and paint a fingerboard
- Thread starter ii7-V7
- Start date
Well that might take a while. I used a coarse file to take down the edges where the epoxy rode up on the dam, maybe you need to do that, carefully. I can't imagine you broke anything by adding or taking off epoxy, the neck should be salvageable. Unless you tried to pry off the epoxy and gouged up the fret board, but even then, painted black and filled with filler and then epoxy will fix that. Maybe a photo?
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Well, the good news is that I was able to get the epoxy off with minimal damage to the fretboard. There is a little nick on the treble side where some of the wood came off while I was scaping. But, I'm pretty sure this can be fixed. The epoxy was absolutely not cured. Now to clean up the goo and give it another shot with a real epoxy, not some cheap stuff that I bought from Home Depot.
I used JB Water Weld. It was the only clear epoxy with a good strength rating at Home Depot. It was one of those syringe style deals where the hardener is on one side and resin on the other. I feel like I mixed it up well, but perhaps I didn't mix it well enough. Either way I ordered some System 3 Mirror coat and black epoxy pigment from Amazon. I'll be sure to mix the hell out if it before I apply it. So, hopefully I'll get better results.
I tested this epoxy when building my fretless, but opted against using it. I didn't have the same issue you had, I just hated the smell of it and decided to use CA glue, which worked out great for me.
Good luck with the System 3 with black pigment, I want to try that on my next fretless neck.
Before doing anything else, can share some photos of the neck?
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
You probably mixed it up ok...
But I just read this on the JBWeld website:
"ClearWeld is designed to cure with a clear, transparent bond when used at thicknesses of less than 15 mil. "
So .....maybe you just had it built up a bit too thick for the type of epoxy it is?
Cause....1/8" is waaay thicker than 15 mil.
Anyway... I'm sure you will have better results with the system 3.
Just make sure you don't use too much pigment ....or it might cause cureing issues itself....(I'm sure there are instructions.)
Sure, my sync cable for my camera is missing. So, I only have my cell phone camera, which is pretty crappy. That's why I've been hesitant. But, I'll post some photos later.
I read the instructions on the packaging that said not to put it down thicker than 1/4". So, I figured I was ok. Apparently not.
)
Rôckhewer
Commercial User
- Feb 28, 2015
- 2,922
- 9,028
- Disclosures
- Owner/Builder- RockHewer Custom Guitars LLC
Ok....well...crap, IDK .... cause they only listed the 15 mil. max thickness requirements for a "transparent bond" on the website...so I just assumed it wasn't intended to be built up much thicker than that.
But if the package itself states that it's ok to build a layer up to 1/4"..... I have no idea what happened.
& here I thought I solved the riddle... 
What probably happened, and what happens half the time I use those syringe type epoxies, is not enough hardener got dispensed, either from air pockets, or uneven pressure, or because the marketers decided that while it might not be optimal half and half is good enough for the added "ease of use".Ok....well...crap, IDK .... cause they only listed the 15 mil. max thickness requirements for a "transparent bond" on the website...so I just assumed it wasn't intended to be built up much thicker than that.
But if the package itself states that it's ok to build a layer up to 1/4"..... I have no idea what happened.
So, it doesn't look great, but as you are going to be pour coating it again shouldn't be problem. I would sand back or maybe strip and repaint the neck black so it looks really good before you put on the epoxy. I hope epoxy will stick well to paint, it seems to stick to anything, but I would try that on a test piece first.
Hard to say what to do with that missing chunk. Fill it before epoxying? or if you pour just let the epoxy fill it in? Find the missing chunk and glue it in? All might work. It is kind of in the area where the next bends with the truss rod, looks like around the 5th fret, not sure what will work. My fretless is pretty straight but both the wood an epoxy do support some bending. I would probably try some wood fill, it doesn't look huge, and let it cure well before epoxying.
Hard to say what to do with that missing chunk. Fill it before epoxying? or if you pour just let the epoxy fill it in? Find the missing chunk and glue it in? All might work. It is kind of in the area where the next bends with the truss rod, looks like around the 5th fret, not sure what will work. My fretless is pretty straight but both the wood an epoxy do support some bending. I would probably try some wood fill, it doesn't look huge, and let it cure well before epoxying.
Well, the neck was pretty dirty in those pics. I've cleaned it up. I also repoured the epoxy last night. i'm using system 3 epoxy with black pigment. I can already tell that the difference is night and day. After sitting for only about ten hours this epoxy is harder than the last batch after ten days. I think this one is going to work. After I get the fingerboard taken care of I'll go back and clean the paint up. I will probably respray the neck with black.
Glad to see you are sticking with it OP. Im doing my first defret on a Squire J right now myself and was thinking of using polyurethane instead of epoxy for fear of the work needed to radius. Your never give up attitude is giving me some courage. Post some more progress pictures please!?
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So, I have to ask. Whats with all of the chalk lines? I noticed that someone else mentioned something about diagonal chalk lines. And now I see someone doing it. Clearly I'm missing out on something here.
