The Most Difficult Neck Reset .. need ideas

[onewent]

greetings, I have acquired a very rare Weymann & Son (Philadelphia) double-neck harp guitar.  It needs a neck(s) reset.  All Weymann guitars I've worked on have a regular mortise and tenon type neck joint .. very difficult to steam, although I have had success with the heat stick on a M&T neck in the past.

Now I have two necks to pull and I need to figure out a plan/procedure to avoid cracking the delicate neck heel(s).  Note that the necks are joined at the heads (see pic, not my guitar but similar, mine is a slimmer 4-string harp drone neck and a regular 6-string neck), so both, likely, need to be pulled together.

Anyone done this before?  Any suggestions for a plan of action? 

Thanks .. Tom

[onewent]

Nice idea, makes sense, thanks!

Tom

[Ian Davlin]

If this is in response to my reply, one thing I'd say is the original version has a built in torque limiter with the deflection of the aluminum. The steel bar has no limits and will crush a heel if you aren't sensitive.  

[onewent]

Yes, I've seen how the jig can crush or 'wrinkle' a heel, especially when lots of steam has shot out in the low part of the joint!

[Larry Toto]

Tom,

I would definitely consider locking the two necks together using additional bracing between the necks using some form of clamping system that prevents torquing the headstock.  Good luck.

Larry

[onewent]

Thanks, Larry, that makes sense.  I've not tackled the issue yet, I have a much more experienced luthier assessing it at the moment.

Tom