Frank Ford's Espresso Neck-Steaming Rig with Krups Model Numbers
Howdy All :)
I just thought I'd share my copy of Frank Ford's Neck Steaming tip that is located here from ack in year 2000:
http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/NeckReset/0002...
I did the legwork to find out what model espresso machine he was using in the tutorial. It is a Krups "Espresso Mini Type 963/A or Type 963/B". I bought this one at the local Goodwill store for $3.49 and when I was done, I can still use the machine to make a cappuccino!
He states, "a few minutes plugging the coffee section", you can either get the complete machinewhich comes with the "steam cap" that plugs off the coffee section or you can still order it from the Krups.com website for 2 or 3 bucks if it doesn't come with your unit. It sits right in the twist-in coffee filter holder and makes it easy as pie.
To remove my neck, I put in 2/3-cup of water (kitchen measure, not espresso coffee measure) and that was enough to steam-off a poorly-repaired (by me in '87) neck reset where I used a heapin-helpin amount of Elmer's Wood Glue.
The tubing I used is from Home Depot - "Watts Clear Vinyl Tubing 3/8"x1/4" #42143420". It was about 4 or 5 bucks for 20'. I can in no way endorse use of this tubing for anyone else...it worked for me just fine twice - once to remove a fingerboard-extension filler and then to remove the neck. It was active for a total of about 20 minutes over two separate sessions days apart. In this short time, it never melted and is still fine. If I were to use it more, I would get the high temp hose that Frank says he uses.
The steaming tip is just our run-of-the-mill football/basketball air-pump inflator tips - $2 for a 3-pack at the local Walmart-type store. I also got the hose-clamps there too - 4-pack for $4.
I made the "water-trap" from the idea in Dan Erlewine's Guitar Repair Book. His diagram shows an Erlenmyer flask with a I/O rubber stopper. I'm a cheapskate hillbilly so I used what I had around. It kept about half of the water I put in the boiler from going on the guitar so I would say it worked :-D
The inlet and outlet tubes are two 1/4" thin aluminum pipes from a broken wind-chime - again, hillbilly engineering.
Be sure to look at the picture in this post - it has details and text right on the photo.
Well, that's about it, I think the whole she-bang cost me under $20 and accomplished what I needed it to do. Any questions, just ask :-D
Enjoy,
Dan Gibbs :)
I just thought I'd share my copy of Frank Ford's Neck Steaming tip that is located here from ack in year 2000:
http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Guitar/NeckReset/0002...
I did the legwork to find out what model espresso machine he was using in the tutorial. It is a Krups "Espresso Mini Type 963/A or Type 963/B". I bought this one at the local Goodwill store for $3.49 and when I was done, I can still use the machine to make a cappuccino!
He states, "a few minutes plugging the coffee section", you can either get the complete machinewhich comes with the "steam cap" that plugs off the coffee section or you can still order it from the Krups.com website for 2 or 3 bucks if it doesn't come with your unit. It sits right in the twist-in coffee filter holder and makes it easy as pie.
To remove my neck, I put in 2/3-cup of water (kitchen measure, not espresso coffee measure) and that was enough to steam-off a poorly-repaired (by me in '87) neck reset where I used a heapin-helpin amount of Elmer's Wood Glue.
The tubing I used is from Home Depot - "Watts Clear Vinyl Tubing 3/8"x1/4" #42143420". It was about 4 or 5 bucks for 20'. I can in no way endorse use of this tubing for anyone else...it worked for me just fine twice - once to remove a fingerboard-extension filler and then to remove the neck. It was active for a total of about 20 minutes over two separate sessions days apart. In this short time, it never melted and is still fine. If I were to use it more, I would get the high temp hose that Frank says he uses.
The steaming tip is just our run-of-the-mill football/basketball air-pump inflator tips - $2 for a 3-pack at the local Walmart-type store. I also got the hose-clamps there too - 4-pack for $4.
I made the "water-trap" from the idea in Dan Erlewine's Guitar Repair Book. His diagram shows an Erlenmyer flask with a I/O rubber stopper. I'm a cheapskate hillbilly so I used what I had around. It kept about half of the water I put in the boiler from going on the guitar so I would say it worked :-D
The inlet and outlet tubes are two 1/4" thin aluminum pipes from a broken wind-chime - again, hillbilly engineering.
Be sure to look at the picture in this post - it has details and text right on the photo.
Well, that's about it, I think the whole she-bang cost me under $20 and accomplished what I needed it to do. Any questions, just ask :-D
Enjoy,
Dan Gibbs :)
Tags: neck, removal, remove, reset, steam, steaming
Views: 1037
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Permalink Reply by Larry Parker on
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Didn't put any of that Jack in to make steam and direct it elsewhere, did ya?
Thanks for the tip on making the trap, I've thinking about doing that myself. I didn't like the expresso machine so I bought a wall paper steamer which works good!
Larry
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Permalink Reply by Dan Gibbs on
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Hey Larry :)
What advantage did you find with the wallpaper steamer over the espresso machine?
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Hey Dan,
I just found the expresso machine hard to work with with not much steam, maybe it was the thrift store unit I bought. The wallpaper steamer hold lots of water and can be carried around easily. I bought the hose from Stew Mac and just cut hose on steamer and couple them together with a barbed coupler.
Larry
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Permalink Reply by Mike Kolb on
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Maybe it's just me, but I've tried the trap and didn't care for it. Seems that it really extends the time waiting for the steam ..which isn't bad by itself, but it also seems to lower the temp and -after all's said and done- the amount of water produced by the steam that finally makes it to "the target" is about the same. For the record, I use a small old-fashioned pressure cooker on a hotplate... Goodwill, $5.99
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Hey Mike :)
I would have to agree with you on using the water trap...it took longer to get the steam. I just figured it took longer because of the volume of my water trap compared to a small flask.
Also makes sense to me now on the lowering of the temperature of the steam. I still had a heckuva lot of water on the joint after a spell. I just didn't mention that as steam will revert to...well, water hehehee.
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Permalink Reply by Bob Webster on
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That's what Frank was using back in the mid-'80s before the expresso craze. I still have mine but now I use it for pressure dyeing veneers.
Bob
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