Getting ready for surgery

Having stumbled onto some plywood I set out to make a neck removal jig for the ancient guitar. As with all jig ideas of mine - at least the ones expected to work - I based the design on a readily available product from Stewmac. But mine will have fewer moving parts, and it might not fit other guitars. 

The main idea is to apply an increasing pressure to the heel, while heating the neck joint to loosen the glue securing the dovetail. Stewmac solves this with a screw going through a threaded hole in a metal bar, but as I make this with a minimum of tools in the kitchen I’ll go for a plywood cradle being pulled up. 

The screws visible in the pic is only clamping the parts, they’re connected to a bit from a Zyliss vise system. 

And even though I don’t have the full stash from the workshop at hand, I managed to find two large screws with square nuts. You can guess the rest, can’t you. The nuts won’t spin because they’re square, so turning the screws will lift the cradle and press the heel upwards. The top plate has felt cushions and will be secured to the guitar with a strap or a couple of clamps. 



Now we await the foam cutter. And re-watch some of twoodfords vids on youtube.