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I have the fret started and have switched hands, pulling from the
end and heating from the middle, working very slowly. The long white flakes at the
edges of the fret slots and along this fret are remnants of previous glue.
Now that all the frets are out, I can see which of those old chips are really loose.
Notice the "blister" in the fingerboard just below the lower square inlay.
This one is typical, unfortunately.
By the way, here's what the frets look like. One is clean and untouched with the
overhang still intact. The other (like about half of them) has been cut short and
nicked heavily on the bottom edge to make it fit more tightly in the slot.
This next bit is difficult to show. In order to reglue the chips,
I'll have to work on one at a time. I'll run some thin Cyanoacrylate (superglue)
under a loose chip, and spray some catalyst (accelerator) on the blade of my flexible
putty knife. Before the catalyst dries, I'll immediately mash the chip down on the
fingerboard "ironing" it in place by pressing hard, moving the knife slightly
so that it won't become stuck. This little trick works quickly and surely.
I'll fill open gaps with medium-viscosity cyanoacrylate mixed to a
paste with lampblack:
On this guitar there's no hurry so I won't use catalyst. If I were
to use the catalyst I'd dab a little into the hole and allow it to dry before adding
the paste. That way I'd reduce the chances that it might turn white as it hardens.