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Thread: inlay replacement problem

  1. #1
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    Default inlay replacement problem

    I am doing a neck with block pattern I inlayed the neck, sanded flat, then cut the fingerboard out, This is where I noticed the 7th fret is just a little out of center , and over to the right too far. the inlay was put in w/ Stew Mac black epoxy. I really don't want to live with this offset block if I can help it, . what can I use to remove the block and re- route 1/16 over. . It looks like a foot. I put a center line down the FB, then measured ea, block carefully, ( I thought), and put a center line on ea. block before gluing to fB to route,. I know I will ruin the piece and that is fine, I am assuming I am going to have to drill it out, but do not know if a dental burr will cut it out, thanks
    Mike Marrs

  2. #2
    Teacher, repair person
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    Default Re: inlay replacement problem

    First thing I would try would be a little heat directly over the inlay. It may soften the glue enough to pick it out with a chisel. A drop of alcohol might help after you've removed the heat. But if it doesn't come right out, you might try one of the red or green Dremel grinding tools. Wear a mask while you're grinding-- pearl dust is very bad for you.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: inlay replacement problem

    thanks much, perhaps I will try a soldering gun

  4. #4
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    Default Re: inlay replacement problem

    this is only my 5th mando, and a friend has built 75. I told him about how frustrated I would get and even angry. He told me this. Many times you will get done with a project and then put your hands on you hips and say,' now how am I going to fix this" It is true. except now , most of the time, I just get a little frustrated, and not so much angry any longer. thanks again

  5. #5
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    Default Re: inlay replacement problem

    got it, my soldering iron would not work, so I started drilling small holes in inlay, to larger ones, it fragmented, allowing me to dig it out, cut a new piece and it is in, thanks

  6. #6
    Registered User amowry's Avatar
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    Default Re: inlay replacement problem

    Good work!

    I had a similar experience to you, where I used to get very frustrated about mistakes, but over the years I've tried to re-frame my thinking to consider fixing mistakes to be a normal part of the process. Mistakes are unavoidable, after all, though I try my best not to make the same once twice That change in mindset has helped reduce my stress level immensely. Now when I screw something up I try to "sleep on it" (lay awake) and picture myself going through all the steps necessary to make the repair, and then fix it the next day. I can safely say that I've never regretted taking the time to fix something that wasn't right. I've picked up several quotes about this from various builders over the years, including:

    "If it's late it will only be late once, but if it's wrong it will be wrong forever." (I believe that's from Michael Lewis)
    also: "You learn more from your mistakes than you do by getting it right the first time."

    I try to keep that second one in the back of my head at all times, in case I need it . How true it is, and it also highlights the benefit of repairing instruments, not just building them-- you can learn a lot from other people's mistakes too!

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  8. #7
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    Default Re: inlay replacement problem

    agreed. I had an apprentice before I retired, and he came up to me bathed in sweat, and looked near tears, . He told me he screwed something , up so I said , lets go have a look. he did, and we straightened it out, but he thought I was going to get all over him. He had been working with a 10 year guy, who would jump all over him. I told him , if you did everything I told you and it came out right , you didn't learn a thing, you just did what I said. well now, you did something a little different, you seen the results, and you learned how to fix it, . He asked if he could spend the rest of his apprenticeship w/ me, and I told him i am a 30 year journeyman , a 10 year journeyman is still somewhat of an apprentice for not going through this with people he is trying to teach

  9. #8

    Default Re: inlay replacement problem

    Such a difference between the skilled craft world and everything else, where it is always possible to blame somebody else for one’s mistakes! Hasn’t worked that well lately at Boeing.

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