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Several of you gave me good advice on the endgraft for my guitar. It is cedar with ebony and I was not sure how to trim it down to plane with the body of the guitar without smearing ebony dust all over the side wood.

I glued the pieces into the slot I cut for the end graft, clamped it and left it to dry. Once dried I used a chisel and scraper to plane it. I then cut the excess wood from the end graft. It was great till I noticed that one corner of the cedar was not glued. I know what I did wrong--I applied the glue to a cool temperature surface and it gelled. I guess I did not get a good spread.

How do I fix this? Do I steam it off and re-set it or do I make some glue and paint it under the corner, clamp it, and let it dry? Certainly just putting it under the loose corner would be simplest but will it work.

Thanks again.

Rodney

Rodney my friend what glue did you use to glue in the end graft and what glue did you use to glue your sides to the tail block?

I am assuming that you want to save the butt wedge that you made and reglue it - is this correct?

My concern is that the heat required to release the end graff might also unglue the sides from the block. So you may have to chisel it out and make a new one.

But with a pic, if you can post one for us please, others may have a cool way to save what you have done. It is possible as you say that you could wick some glue under the unglued corner, clamp, and all is well.

As Hesh ask what did you use for glue?
I would remove it, probably not that hard since you applied the glue cold, clean up the surface and re-glue. Why don't you take a chisel and try to pop it out since it doesn't sound like glue stuck to well. If that doesn't work, I'd rout it out and make a new wedge.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

If it can be pressed back down, and won't be too low then just force some glue in and clamp it.

_________________
David White, Toronto

"All my favourite singers can't sing."

And not to be over-zealous or anything, but maybe the subject of this thread should be 'end-graft not well glued-fix please' or something to that effect...

(Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, I miss Mario...)

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

okay, I fixed the thread title from here on.

Here are some pictures, I think.

Remember, this is my first time to build a guitar. I plan on making all my mistakes on this one so the rest will be perfect!

Start with the end graft: You can see how it sets and you can see in the photo with my thumb that only a corner is not sticking. I am only using hide glue on this guitar. If I steam it off, I'm going to try to make a hose fitting in an effort to focus the steam, using the hose, to the end graft as opposed to letting it affect the entire guitar. Naturally, my preference is to add in some glue and clamp it down, rather than remove it.

The pictures show other problems too. First, the most obvious is the cleanup from the kerfing left glue marks inside the guitar. How do I get rid of those?

Second, the wood on either side of the end graft is scarred. What is the best way to clean that up?

Hope the photos work.

Rodney

If it's still proud of the sides, you can iron it down with a clothes iron.

Why are you using hide glue for everything?

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

When I started learning about building, I saw that hide glues have been used for centuries so that is what I have used.

Rodney

As Howard said, if it's still proud of the sides, you can use heat to remove it- a clothes iron works well (at
least until your wife finds out about it). If it's level with the sides, you can either replace it, or make a shim
for under it. If you have the wood to just remake it, it's less work than trying to make a shim and glue up
two pieces. I'd recommend you use Titebond I for some of these less critical joints- lots more open time
for placing and clamping parts.

_________________
Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain