HCN Inlay install guided tour - R7 & R8 (PICS)

[buyusfear]

This is pretty much a Copy-Paste from my thread on another forum, but I wrote it for here aswell..
hope ya dig.
DANALECTRO, MIKE20 and Greco, Thanks to your previous threads. They helped in making me want to do this.

Ok, so a step-by-step, what I needed....

(note.. I only used one bottle of Krazy glue, so 5 was total over kill)
(second note.. don't mind the t-shirt i'm wearing)
(third note.. Didn't really use the hairdryer, idn't find it made a difference)



Step 1

Drilling and popping them out.

I used a regular drill bit and just took it slow, kept checking until I saw wood and then used a corkscrew to get them out, It has great leverage and I find it works really well.



Step 2

The cork screw. Just pop 'em out. Just a cheapo one you'd get in a hotel, but it acutally works best as you can hold it nice and tight.



Step 2a

A nice small flat head I use for pickup adjustment worked real well at slowly getting under the broken end of the inlay. Just slowly rock it back and forth and the inlays just pop out (for some reason the R8's inlays came out way easier then the R7)





I did this one by one at first with the R7. I'd pop one out, fit the new one and go onto finishing it, then move onto the next one. However, I found that if I popped them all out at once, then fit them, then glued them, it was much faster.

Step 2b

Cleaning the yellow glue out. It kind of chipped out on some, and for others I had to use a new chisel and back blade the base of the route.






Step 3

Fitting and pre-radiusing
I can't stress how much pre-radiusing makes the job easier.
(another tip is to cut a bunch of strips of sand paper of different gritts, beforehand, to fit each sanding block, that way you can just re-load a new strip when needed, as they tend to load up really quick, quite annoying actually)



Here you can see how little is left to sand after pre-radiusing



And here you can see it after i've sanded, razor bladed, drop filled, and re bladed, and sanded.



Step 3a

Cleaning routes with naptha (i.e lighter fluid)



A lot of the glue actually comes off with lighter fluid and paper towel. Or in chunks like in the pic.



Step 3b

Gluing them in....
Just drip in the glue, zoro the bottom of the inlay and drop it in and hold for a bit..



Step 4

final sanding, moving through the grades of paper

[buyusfear]

Step 5

Drop filling with more glue
This step is what will give the seamless edge. I let it dry while I moved onto to the other inlays. I then used a blade to scrape off the excess and then re-sanded..


Step 5a

I use a razor blade quite a bit through-out this procedure, and especially after drop filling...





Step 6

Final sanding using super fine 1200, or 2000 grit, or 600 wet-dry. As long as its smooth



Step 7

Steel wool, No pics of this as I did it outside on my balcony.

Step 8

Clean up so your woman feeds you dinner, 'cause this shit took me all day, (aproxx 4 hours per guitar, not including my trip to Home Depot, and my visit to chat with my old boss while I picked up some strings)

Step 9

Fret doctor the boards and re-string



Hope you liked it, now go out and get yerselves some Nitrate!

[pinefd]

Great thread, and great blow-by-blow! Just curious, when you sanded the inlays (while on the board), did you sand length wise along the fingerboard, or back and forth across the fingerboard...or doesn't it matter. And did you end up sanding your whole fingerboard...even the frets with no inlays...to ensure that the whole board looked the same?

[FLICKOFLASH]

great post Thanks

[buyusfear]

Originally Posted by pinefd

Great thread, and great blow-by-blow! Just curious, when you sanded the inlays (while on the board), did you sand length wise along the fingerboard, or back and forth across the fingerboard...or doesn't it matter. And did you end up sanding your whole fingerboard...even the frets with no inlays...to ensure that the whole board looked the same?

Good question. Yes, I sanded the entire board. It actually helped darken up the board. Because I conditioned it without sanding the non-inlay areas of the fret board, and they looked more red or lighter in color, so I went through again and sanded everything.

In terms of sanding length ways or along the board, after pre-radiusing, there wasn't much to sand once installed, but yes, I sanded with the frets. I'd kill myself if I were to sand back and forth.

great post Thanks

Thanks, and your welcome. I hope it helps people if they decide to do this.

It just takes a LOT of patience.
The pay off is so worth it IMO.

[buyusfear]

More pics

[mplecha]

awesome! good work. Those necks look fantastic

[loaded six string]

looks fantastic

[Mike60]

buyusfear....this has got to be the ultimate thread on inlay swapout and should be made a sticky,so that anyone who wants to do this on their own has a pretty comprehensive guide.

[buyusfear]

Thanks guys!

Mike, that was my whole intention. I wanted to try and document the install to make it a cool picture thread while also doubling as an aid to those contemplating the task. It really isn't all that difficult, you just get out of it what you put in it. And, people can always ask if they're unsure.

[twinrider1]

Outstanding. Thanks!

[decoy205]

Great job man! Very cool thread.

[chaseej]

buyusfear,

Great tutorial on the inlays. Also great job on the inlays in the guitars they look great.

Dave Johnson

[buyusfear]

Originally Posted by chaseej

buyusfear,

Great tutorial on the inlays. Also great job on the inlays in the guitars they look great.

Dave Johnson

Thanks a lot Dave. Coming from you that means a lot.
And thanks for hunting this stuff down.
I can't wait 'till I can have a set installed by you though, plus all the other fixings,

Alex

[BOBBO]

buyusfear , That was an amazing process to watch !! I just ordered a set of inlays from Dave and let me tell ya he's a great guy to deal with !!! Even sent me pic's of the set on it's way !!!!! The process of installing the inlays doesn't look too hard , But i think i'm gonna leave it to a pro ! Here's my set that will arrive soon !! Can hardly wait !!!!

[buyusfear]

Thanks Bobbo, I bet you can't wait.
I used to work as a day tech, and apprenticed as a repair/restoration tech for a bit, so i've had quite a bit of experience with doing this sort of work, never this large, always little things like inlays that have popped out (even though I was still quite nervous, I won't lie)

That set you have coming looks awesome, great striations and patterns, very authentic (mind you, every set i've seen so far looks bang on. Your R8 (i'm assuming thats whats getting them) will look awesome once done. Just make sure and mark the sides you want up, for whomever does the job, 'cause each side is quite different. (I spent quite a while picking and choosing, mixing and matching, before putting pen to paper)

I can't thank Dave and Kim enough for bringing this stuff in. I absolutely love vintage Les Paul's, and being able to tinker and get my guitars closer to the vintage grail is such a pleasure for me.

Everytime I open the lid on the case, I smile. (which is my next task, finding the perfect, slighlty aged Lifton clone or original, $$$, probably clone)

[BOBBO]

Originally Posted by buyusfear

Thanks Bobbo, I bet you can't wait.
I used to work as a day tech, and apprenticed as a repair/restoration tech for a bit, so i've had quite a bit of experience with doing this sort of work, never this large, always little things like inlays that have popped out (even though I was still quite nervous, I won't lie)

That set you have coming looks awesome, great striations and patterns, very authentic (mind you, every set i've seen so far looks bang on. Your R8 (i'm assuming thats whats getting them) will look awesome once done. Just make sure and mark the sides you want up, for whomever does the job, 'cause each side is quite different. (I spent quite a while picking and choosing, mixing and matching, before putting pen to paper)

I can't thank Dave and Kim enough for bringing this stuff in. I absolutely love vintage Les Paul's, and being able to tinker and get my guitars closer to the vintage grail is such a pleasure for me.

Everytime I open the lid on the case, I smile. (which is my next task, finding the perfect, slighlty aged Lifton clone or original, $$$, probably clone)

Hadn't even thought about the fact that you can use either side of the inlay !! Each side is very different ?? Ohh I aged my Re-Lifton case !! Now that's easy stuff ! Just need some concrete for roughing it up on and some brown kiwi shoe polish !! I'll post pics soon !

[buyusfear]

More pics...

[Belzeebub]

excellent thread! thanks for sharing this with us. now, there is hope after all for those who cant stand the green of their Classics' inlays.

[Belzeebub]

if you dont mind, what did you use to oil your fretboard?

[buyusfear]

Fret Doctor. I've used a lot of stuff, and this stuff is by far the best thus far.

Ed Boyle is good people, great to deal with.

[Belzeebub]

Thanks! Im gonna get some.

[buyusfear]

Here's one of the new vs the old

[mojofilter]

Very impressive,excellant step by step photos,great explaination of the entire procedure,thank you for your concern for all the details!