Frank's neck-reset compressed air jig...

[Mike Kolb]

Frank, if the mood should strike, could you post an elaboration on your compressed-air jig that you use to "kill steam" when doing neck resets?  I found a picture you'd posted back in '11, but the manifold portion is partially hidden from view. It looks fairly straightforward... but maybe not?

Maybe any new thoughts on the construction, now that some time has passed?

It seems like something that would be quite useful to make-up and have handy.  Thanks in advance! 

[Ned Knepp]

I don't care anything about the steam ( ok, maybe an bit), I just like the way it looks like a robot is doing the neck removal!l

[Frank Ford]

A work in progress, for sure.  The manifold is just that, a simple PVC tube that connects to the "out" of our shop vac. The loc-line air nozzles are snap-together things and we're still messing with arrangement, etc.  The biggest problem is to remember to reconnect the vacuum hose to the "suck" side after finishing, so the next guy to use it doesn't get a big blast of dust in the face.

Cumbersome,  yes, but the steam coming out gets cooled immediately, so there's not often any trace of finish damage when we use the rig.

[Mike Kolb]

Thanks, Frank... that's good to know the manifold arrangement isn't as complicated as I feared it might be.

Like many, I've been fighting steam marks under the neck-area finish for a long time, and the most recent (on a fairly high-end Takamine) was one of the worst.

Something clicked and I remembered you'd experimented with the compressed air.   Now it's project time~!

[Frank Ford]

OOPS  - Ned, I think I accidentally deleted your question about the air source!

I do use the output of our shop vac for the air.    I originally tried the air compressor line, but CFM was WAY too low.  Don't need pressure, do need VOLUME.

[Ned Knepp]

That's Ok Frank. You answered the question.

My compressor wouldn't drive a setup like very well but a vac would do it just fine. Being a rabid "saver" I have an old motor/fan assembly saved from a canister vac that I've been thinking I could use to make a blower. I didn't think of using the flex fittings to hold the airflow where I want it. That's a lot easier than some of the ideas I've been dreaming up.  

[Robbie Collins]

Do you use 1/4" or 3/8" loc-line?