Whitmore Willy Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Had some time today so I thought I'd take the next step and try to bring my fretboard back to life. The board still had the original shoe polish like finish. Pic of well cared for board and dent at C# position: Now, I don't recommend this unless you know what you are doing. However, on new Epi guitars I always scrape the fretboard to get rid of the sticky mess that coats them. In this case I am doing it to get rid of that and all the crud that has been impregnated into it. I hold the edge of a razor blade away from me and drag the blade toward me. WARNING!!! If you do this over your inlays it WILL SCRATCH THEM! (makes no difference if they are mother of pearl or mother of toilet seat) You must either work around the inlays or know how to buff them out. I do a combination of both. On an Epiphone fretboard this will expose grain of the wood and enable conditioning. It is not for everyone. IT IS A ONE TIME SHOT! Most are better putting up with black fingers until the strings rub the fretboard down and then conditioning it as described in Animalfarm's DIY. Anyway back on subject. I put a piece of paper over my neck caul and scraped the neck. The paper is so I could save the dust as I later used it: My C# dent exposed: I then steamed the dent. This does not work on gouges or nicks, only dents. The wood must still be there. I put a couple of drops of water on the dent and let it soak in. I added a bit more and placed a damp rag over it. I then put a steam iron (like you would use for pressing cloths) over the damp cloth. The heat turns the water to steam and sometimes raises the grain. I used the tip of the iron only (careful not to touch the frets). A second or two is enough at one time. I didn't want to soften any glue. I did this a couple of times letting things cool in between. Bad Pic but you can see some improvement: I then put some of the scrapings (the dust I saved) into what was left of the dent and put a drop of super glue on it: After drying I hit it (slightly and lightly) with some 600 grit sand paper. I finished it out with 1500 grit (the dented spot only): I then finished it off with some Weiman lemon oil. Old English, Fret Doctor or any conditioner (WITHOUT SILICON) would work: I now have a playable fretboard with no dents: With luck, and an early delivery, tomorrow the bridge/tailpiece. Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Amazing work! I might have to try that trick on my EBM. It has LOTS of dents on the fretboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueEpiphone Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Amazing work! I might have to try that trick on my EBM. It has LOTS of dents on the fretboard. Yes, yes, yes! Rest (if you must)..what are you gonna do next??? P.S. The Epi. Wiki is GAS inducing RTH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 I might have to try that trick on my EBM. It has LOTS of dents on the fretboard. I was lucky. The dent was near the edge where I was able to use a clothing type steam iron. It is something I am used to working with. I get a lot of practice taking dents out of people's pool sticks. (Of course, there you have to worry about warping, not to mention the stick needs to be boned afterwords) If the dent was further in then I suppose you could use a soldering iron with a broad chisel tip. I would still use the damp cloth between the dent and the fretboard. That is something I would want to practice first on a scrap of wood. Frankly, the steaming helped but the super glue and sawdust filler is what did the trick. Sure hope it holds!? If I was going to do it on a well cared for fretboard I would alter the process slightly. I probably would not scrape it. I would clean the dented area with some naptha. Do a little steaming. I would then get my dust by sanding a scrap piece of hardwood that was stained first to match the fretboard. (never tried it....but I would) Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 P.S. The Epi. Wiki is GAS inducing RTH! Indeed it is! Willy, How well do you think the wood shavings and glue will hold? I'm not sure how long that would last on the EBM. Bass strings are pretty large. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted November 17, 2011 Author Share Posted November 17, 2011 Willy, How well do you think the wood shavings and glue will hold? I'm not sure how long that would last on the EBM. Bass strings are pretty large. I'm not sure. This is my first time trying it. I think it might depend on the size of the dent. Superglue is pretty tough stuff. Even with only a drop on the fretboard there is probably more glue than dust in the ding I did. I also used high quality Titebond super glue....not the cheep stuff. Others have probably tried it. For all I know there might be something on youtube. As for me, I got the idea watching a video of a pro changing frets on a rosewood board. After removing the frets, he found some surface splinters caused by the removal. He used quality superglue to glue the splinters back down. He then sanded and leveled the board before re-fretting. As I stated when I started, I'm working with a beater so I have nothing to loose. You could try it on a scrap piece of similar density wood. make a dent. Repair it. Sand it. Let it set for a day. Then, see what it takes to dig it back out? Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Thanks for the info on the glue. I currently have the cheap stuff. I'll be sure not to use that. I have a couple of scrap rosewood fretboard necks I can try it on. These are great threads! Keep the mods/repairs coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigneil Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 What a great job you have done on the fretboard Willy ! looks like new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Thanks for the great step-by-step tutorial Willy. You are an excellent teacher and conveyor of knowledge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixx_ gunner Posted November 26, 2011 Share Posted November 26, 2011 Very cool that you are doing these to help others out. I wasn't aware you could steam out dents. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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