Official Luthiers Forum!

OH...if that were at least sealed with polyester, it's highly unlikely that the glue line would telegraph through.

If you're a nitro fan, it could be sealed and built up in poly and then top coated in nitro as per Bourgeois, Collings, etc.

One more great thing about polyester finishes...after 48 hours they do not shrink unless what's under them shrinks.

Hey, forget fixing it. It's a terrible idea.

There is no way in hell he's going to hide that crack with a clear finish. It's just not going to happen unless he's the greatest oil painter since the Dutch masters were working their magic.   Some stuff you can't hide unless you use the new finish from the Harry Potter Paint Company..."Obscuralon."

Make a new set of sides.

But save those sides and make a 'burst koa guitar someday. It'll be beautiful.

Rick, this "Obscuralon" you speak of, can that cover up a Floyd Rose on a 60's strat?
Best, Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

Yup, if you want a natural koa, start over with new sides but save those for a
burst someday. I think it would look great.

And Hesh, you're not fooling anyone about not covering up mistakes. You
think we really believe you painted that L-00 top solid black because you
really wanted to? C'mon, lets see some pics of chisel gouges or tearout that
you painted over.......

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Aww, you must have photoshop'd all the blemishes out. And chances are
you paid off Lance to alter the posts in the archives to meet your claims.
Considering what NASA did to make those fake Apollo moon landing films,
doctoring some photos and web archives is small change.

Oh, and I'll take any blemish tops you don't want.

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I would try this just for fun and because it's to nice of a side.

Dissolve the CA with CA solvent, take your time with clean rags and get all the CA off the wood and out of the crack. Now flaten the side a little. Does the crack disapear? If it does then hold it like that with a clamp or whatever. Now wick a little CA in (yes CA again, be sure to use the thin stuff) keep wicking it in until the crack if filled. Don't let it out of the clamp for at least 24 hours after the last CA is in. If the crack was not visible when you started it won't be visible now.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Joe, I'm sorry, but I doubt that the very best luthier on the planet...or this forum could pull off what you're suggesting. Cross grain cracks just do not hide, even with hot hide glue...no pun intended...especially on a second go-round.

The crack could be grain painted over by a very skillful touch-up artist using acrylics or oil paints and then finished over that. The base color would have to match the wood perfectly and be painted down the crack; then the pores could be painted over that with a tiny brush and some Van Dyke brown paint. Someone used to doing museum-quality oil painting conservation could pull that off and blow all our minds...for a sum that would probably exceed the cost of the full set of koa.

[QUOTE=Rick Turner]The crack could be grain painted over by a very skillful
touch-up artist using acrylics or oil paints and then finished over that. The
base color would have to match the wood perfectly and be painted down the
crack; then the pores could be painted over that with a tiny brush and some
Van Dyke brown paint. Someone used to doing museum-quality oil painting
conservation could pull that off and blow all our minds...for a sum that
would probably exceed the cost of the full set of koa.[/QUOTE]

I don't know if you know Tom Marcel, but he's one of the few luthiers that I
know of who could really pull it off. I saw him touching up a splice in a
D'Angelico top, and I swear his color matching and painting skills were
unlike anyone else's I've ever seen. It seems he could paint just about any
crack invisible, of course this chunk of wood is no D'angelico.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Hesh, David, Rick et al, I really appreciate you all coming to my rescue! If I were doing a repair, I think I'd try to fix it, but I think I bend new sides.  I'll save the old ones for possible burst finish or for parts.  Hesh said it well - I got to get on with the original job and get this done.  Learning how to do a burst finish may be a future endeavor.  I really appreciate all the advice!  

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

David, I've seen this kind of thing done on antique instruments, so I know it's possible, but it's a whole 'nuther skill set that most luthiers do not possess.   You have to literally be able to paint growth rings and grain lines and blend that in with the real deal. I'd love to see Tom's work, and his name tickles some memory cells; is he in New Jersey?

A violin maker of my acquaintance, who worked in a big shop for years, said that he never saw a Strad that didn't have a crack in the 'armpit' of the C-bouts.

David Collins wrote:
" I saw him touching up a splice in a D'Angelico top, and I swear his color matching and painting skills were
unlike anyone else's I've ever seen."

I bet it was not a cross grain splice, though....

When I was studying with Carleen Hutchins she had a woman (who's name escapes me) who did restoration work for the Met come in once in a while to show us repair techniques. She had a little 3-hair sable brush that she could use to paint in grain lines with analine dye on spirit varnish. You'd never know they were there. I got to where I could do a bit of that, but it took a long time, and I'm nowhere near the level I was at for lack of practice.

We've all seen amazing repairs over the years. I've even gotten lucky once in a while myself. However, a cross grain crush mark or crack in a light wood is not something I'd tackle from choice, and for purposes of discussion, I think of mahogany and koa as light woods.