I have a Adi spruce top I'm attempting to use on number 2 (Black walnut/Adi J-45ish thing, Curly Koa bindings) that has been giving me some troubles.
First, after joining, the top falls just shy of completely covering the widest part of the lower bout. The gap is relatively small (~0.172 on each side). The curly koa (0.085) and b/w/b purfling (0.060) I was planning on using won't quite fill the gap. I am probably just going to go with a bit wider purling to cover the gap. Now the question. If if do this, there will still be a slight gap between the top and the binding, which is capped by the purfling. Is this alright? Should the gap be filled with something? I could glue on little wings to fill the gap if need be.
Second, this morning in noticed a hairline crack at the top, right side of the top. The top hasn't been brought to thickness yet (still about .140). The top can be positioned so that what appears to be the bottom or end of the crack would maybe fall 1/4 in. to 1/2 in. inside the body (after the lining). What's the best course? I am 99.9% sure the crack is the result of handling the piece and is not due to humidity related instability (the very top of the top in this area is super thin and I'm pretty sure the tear came from me picking the top up by the right corner
)Thanks!
Aaron
). If it's split all the way through, you'll want some pressure from the side as well. After the glue gelled up, I scraped most of it off the surface and then left to dry. Took quite a bit of sanding to get back to fully bare wood, but the crack itself is entirely invisible now. I can't even find it knowing where to look.