Out from the ashes
After taking a week to recover from the trauma of having to remove the neck, I was finally ready to deal with the damage from the iron. The body was easy, a card scraper took care of most of the glue residue, and the paring chisel finished the job. Then I went through the sanding pads from 600 to 12,000 grit on the top of the body. Its not perfect, especially if you look in a raking light, but, for the most part, it is back as it started.
The burned/boiled cocobolo fingerboard took a little more effort, working around the frets, but it was essentially the same process. The worst part were the MOP dot inlays, which had lifted. Apparently the CA glue and cocobolo oils expanded enough to push them up. So the affected ones had to be refiled flush to the fingerboard. Even after sanding and polishing, the color is decidedly darker where the iron had been.
Then came the actual reset, changing the angle at the join. I used a chisel to get an approximate fix, and the reattached the neck with the bolts and restrung the guitar. Much better. Then it was a matter of taking it off, refining and sanding, bolting it back on, restringing, taking it off again, refining and sanding some more, bolting it back on again, restringing, etc. etc. etc. About six tests before I felt it was as good as it could be. Then, mustering up some courage, to glue the fingerboard back on; permanently, this time (I hope). At least until the far distant future when it needs a reset due to age and years of happy pickin’.
It sings! Especially in “terz” tuning, which is a third higher – in G – than the standard E tuning. It’s page is now up, and I plan on getting some video/recording posted at some point. Now I just need to find a good home for it.
Acornhouseworkshop 
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