Deconstructing an Uke: Gruesome Pictures

I finally got around to a salvage operation today which I have been putting off. The top on this uke is completely smashed so I'm setting about saving the bridge and fingerboard with a mind to saving the instrument by replacing the top while saving the neck and sides. Pictures below.

The patient on the operating table...



Application of the special Stew-Mac patented Bridge De-Attachment Device (the Destruktor) also known as a steam iron from the thrift store. Setting: Immolate Ukulele setting...

Bridge off! Some marring of finish... good thing this is not a vintage instrument.

Steaming the fingerboard and prying. Best tool: Drywall spatula ($3.00 USD). Fingerboard coming up. Time: Hours... Got tired and cocktail hour arrived. To be continued.

The deconstruction was a success! Total work time: Only 5 hours. The fingerboard was the worst. The top came off sweet and easy and all the bracing was saved.... Now to fit the new top. This is going to be a little tricky since the old top was very thin (about 65) and I want to put in a thicker spruce top at maybe something between 80 and 90. This will mean sanding down the sides so the neck/fingerboard/neck block and top joints are perfectly flush which means temporary bracing the sides and going at it with a flat sanding board...Trial and error until it just slides in under the fingerboard.