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Customer brought me a Warmouth maple neck with poly sprayed over the board and frets. Wants me to remove the poly from the frets. Before I get into it am looking for input on best/cleanest way to remove poly.
Say, tape off frets and sand it off? Score sides of frets (gently) with exacto knife and pull off poly? Maybe heat the knife first?
Would appreciate advice from someone who has done it before. Thanks

Poly what? Polyester? Polyurethane? Poly-wanna-cracker? Okay, the cracker joke is lame. Richard, your method sounds solid but does the client want the finish completely free of the fret wire? If the finish has any build to it, it seems there will be a void that would collect grime over time.

Also, if the finish is polyester, a heated knife would most likely create a mess for you because polyester cures so hard. Polyurethane remains a bit softer and the heated knife might work although I think a good sharp blade for each fret would be best.

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jw ( o)===:::

Tape, fret level, re-crown, polish; i.e how you'd usually treat a lacquered board. If it's a new neck, it will likely need that anyway. If your customer is seeking a fretted-over-lacquer look, I'd be sending them elsewhere!

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

If this thing was home brewed, chances are he means polyurethane. If so, cut on both sides of the fret with an Xacto knife, and you'll probably be able to peel the finish off easily. If that doesn't work, you can always use a scraper made from nail with a notch cut into the head like Fender does (or did).

Then, tape, level, crown, polish, etc.

If it turns out the poly is polysorbate 60, then remove with high fructose corn syrup.

Not THAT is a lame joke...

On second thought if he used home hobbyist 'poly' to try to achieve the fender lacquered fretboard look, it may need to be removed and redone properly. That stuff is usually too soft. You'll be able to tell if you pull some from the frets. If it comes off in a soft rubbery translucent strip, it's a bad omen IMO.

If it's OTOH a Warmoth factory finish, you'll be fine.