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| Split top repair tips http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=19314 |
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| Author: | jfmckenna [ Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Split top repair tips |
Hey all, I've got a classical guitar repair that has been badly damaged due to improper care. The back, sides and neck are in great shape but the top has split in about 5 different places. Some of the splits are major. The ones that were not I repaired as I always do by humidifying the guitar and gluing the crack while squeezing the sides and then stitching it up on the inside with diamond graphs. the major splits need to be splinted. I've done this with backs before but not on a top and I ran into a problem. I make the splint to a nice snug fit but when adding glue (yellow) it's impossible to fit the splint in. So can any of you give me some good advice on how to glue in a splint? I'm afraid to thin the glue out too much with water and I think a thin super glue would ruin the finish. My only other thought is to dry out the guitar then thin the splint out and glue in place by massaging glue into the the splinted crack. Regards. John |
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| Author: | Michael Dale Payne [ Mon Oct 27, 2008 3:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Split top repair tips |
OK, If you make a "WEDGED" splint of like wood with the qs grain in the prpper orientation. Carfully open the crack a tad with a ulta thin saw bade to the length of the splint. (just slightly longer each end than the orginal crack). Lay down a bead of HHG in the crack and on the edges of the splint. While still warm work the spling in to place till the opened crack is flush with the sides of the splint everywhere. Clean up excess hhg. Allow to set up over night. Carefully pare the excess splint material to near flush with the top. Scrape the splint fush the rest of the way seal with fine brush and repair the finish. If the wood matched well and the finish repair went well then the repair will be almost invisible. |
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| Author: | Erik Hauri [ Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:12 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Split top repair tips |
Yep - hot hide glue is your friend here. I've also used Elmer's white (yep-schoolgirl glue) before I tried HHG, and it worked fine, but HHG is more invisible. Superglue will wick into the endgrain of the top wood and leave a dark-colored line around the splint. |
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