Neck steaming temperature?

[Andrew]

Sorry if this topic has come up already. With the search function down I couldn't find what I was after.

Anyway Im wondering what the temperature of steam should be coming out of the needle, roughly. I currently have a pressure cooker on a hotplate, and with the plate at max and the cooker all warmed up, I can hold the needle pretty much against my hand without much discomfort, and it sputters pretty frequently, although the water in the pot boils vigorously and there are no pressure leaks. Do i need to get more heat under the pressure cooker? Anything else I can do? If the pressure cooker's not a good route its no loss, i got it for 2$. Maybe try the steam cleaner like in another current thread? Id like as much control over the volume and temperature of the steam as possible.

[Don Korth]

Here's the rig I use and it's also my main coffee and espresso machine for daily use. I purchased a small length of fuel line form a local automotive supply and an inflator needle for a basketball or football and clamped it into the hose and clamped the other end to the espresso machine. It's a Mr. coffee unit. I did as another suggested and let it heat up until pure steam was coming out the needle with no sputting. I can't control the temperature of the unit but I can control the amount or flow of the steam and it worked like a charm on a couple Harmony Soverign resets that I did.

The tape to either side of the fingerboard extension was there for when I heated the extension with a standard household clothing iron on the wool setting and used a small spatula to release it. Don't leave the tape on there when you do the steaming process as it will mess up the finish and don't ask me how I know. Also keep plenty of rags handy to keep the moisture that escapes wiped up at all times. It took about 45 seconds to steam those necks to a point where they would release and they used hide glue. I haven't a clue as to what the time would be for another type of glue though.

The dovetail joints on the two Harmony guitars I did a reset on were pretty poorly made and after I removed the proper amount of wood from the heel and tapered it I had to shim the dovetail itself to get a good fit. They both came out remarkably well but these are the only two neck resets I have ever done and they were done on lower grade instruments. Ironically once I did the resets on those two Harmony guitars and installed a bone nut and saddle, those instruments actually played and sounded pretty darn good.

[Andrew]

Cool beans. I onced swapped a neck from a harmony archtop (forget the model but it was from the 50s or early 60s) whose body wasnt so great into another harmony whose neck was very warped. It was a very nice sounding instrument when it was done. probably much nicer than anything you could find today for a similar price.

[Brent Brown]

I use dry heat. 

This is bent out of 12-gauge copper wire. I put the tip of my old soldering iron through the loop and it gets hot enough to melt solder right down to the ends.

It works! :) 

[Roger Häggström]

I see a high probability for burned fingers. Just a light touch of the copper thread will do!