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I need to remove the rosewood binding from a cocobolo fretboard. The good news is the fretboard is not attached to anything. So my plan is to go at it with a razor blade (from the back) with heat or acetone. The binding was glued with CA. I think I am going to somehow heat the razor blade. Any other ideas are welcome. Thanks.

Why not just cut it off?? Fastest way. Or are you trying to save the binding?

CA will dissolve with acetone, you don't need heat.

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A wood plane would make quick and fun work of it.

I was thinking it would be quite easy to save the binding. Binding was pretty cheap so maybe I should just cut it off. I was debating doing a bamboo binding so it matches the inlays, just need to figure out keep the bamboo from blowing up (literally) when I use the router.

Hoping that the acetone will not stain the fretboard.

It shouldn't. Test on scrap.

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Hand plane

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Why don't you use an edge sander and sand it off, but not all the way. Leave like a 32nd of an inch or something, make it an accent stripe.

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Thanks all. The acetone did not cause any staining. It also did not free the binding, at least not easily with the razor blade. I even poured the acetone on, but it seems the acetone needs to make contact with the CA, and I suppose that wasn't happening. I have removed a few bridges with careful use of the hair dryer, I will try that next. After that I will just plane it off, I don't have a sanding station. I am not sure what an edge sander is.

Heat doesn't work on CA. Don't waste your time trying.

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Yes, I've wondered how well acetone would work to disassemble parts. It does dissolve CA, as I've used it for spills, but it doesn't seem too aggressive and it evaporates very quickly. It may not remain liquid well enough to stay and eat away at the glued seam,
Mike

CA has very low shear strength... you may be able to dislodge it with a few taps on its side...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

If your not trying to save the binding, save your self the trouble and time and cut it off.

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