Inlays - 2nd pass

Well, I decided I'd try to get that crooked inlay out to redo it. I bought a heat gun for softening the epoxy but after thinking about it (750 to 1000 degrees!) I was concerned I might melt the binding on the neck. So I gave the hair dryer method a shot. Also tried scraping away the epoxy from around the inlay but I was just making a mess of things. Finally gave up before I caused irreparable damage. I considered a 'terminal extraction' but really how bad was it? Plus I probably would not be able to match the exact tint and look with a new inlay. And besides, there are worse flaws than that on the guitar (see earlier post with close-up of the neck joint).

I did put another batch of epoxy around the edges of the inlays to smooth out all the rough spots (and fix my botched attempt to extract the first inlay). I also included the last two upper inlays this time for good measure.

I let it dry for only about 8 hours before scraping off the excess epoxy - so much easier this time. I sanded the fingerboard using a radius block with 240-grit self-adhesive sand paper and then wiped it down with a damp cloth. I then went through several grits of sand paper on the each inlay. I stopped at 800-grit. This gave the inlays a nice matte finish which I though looked much more elegant than the very plastic-y shine they originally had. Wiped it down again and also scraped the fret slots to remove any debris and dust. Basically it's ready for the frets although I will probably touch up the plugged screw holes first.