Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello All,

First attempt at bending maple (european) and here's the result. Do these marks look like scorching, or staining of some sort?? I sanded the sides clean and the markings went away until I sprayed finish on it...then bam...they were there again. It is also interesting that the scorch marks are not where the waist bar (on the bending machine, lights not blankets) was touching. I would imagine it scorching the most there since that is the point where the most heat is. I had to scrape for a while to get rid of them the first time and I am scared to go anyfurther for fear of going through the first layer (double sides). Any thoughts on fixing this?? Here's some pics.

I don't have any advice, but the guitar looks great. That's hard luck. I can't believe it just came back on finishing. Bummer!

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Are you sure it's the scorch marks coming back? Could it be that you already sanded too thin and you're seeing the glue layer? That seems more likely to appear with finish.

If so, you're pretty well screwed unless you want to put a sunburst or some other dark color on a classical. Bummer indeed.

_________________
http://www.chassonguitars.com

Bummer. I havent had too good of luck working with maple either. I cant see a closeup of the marks, but from what I see it isnt too noticable. With figured maple, it is not uncommon to see "stripes" where sanding leaves burn marks. This happens because of the hard and soft ripples in the wood. If you are seeing a more uniform mark instead of ripples, then I would agree that it is most likely glue showthrough that you are seeing.

_________________
Reguards,

Ken H

Yeah, I guess I am pretty screwed at this point. Oh well, I tried. It's just curious that it goes all the way through. I'm pretty sure it is not from sanding through (yet) because the pattern is exactly the same as it was originally. I am wondering if the heat from bending caused some sort of chemical reaction in the wood or something. Anyone had similar things happen?? I wrapped the wood in aluminum foil and used purified water so I don't think it is necessarily a "stain" either. I'm going to go ahead and finish it anyway and have a guitar with some character. I really hate character

Kristopher,
Here's a longshot,but it might be worth a try...
If it is actually a stain,then I would try bleaching it out.
Obviously, you would have to remove whatever finish is already on the side and then use some wood bleach (there are several different types).
It might take a few applications-The worst that could happen is your back to where you started.
But,I just wouldn't give up so easy.
Good luck,
Brad

Another idea would be to lightly stain or tone the back and sides.

Brad is thinking smart! The guitar looks too nice to have it marred by a scorch mark. If you can't bleach it out, I would stain the back and sides to mask the problem. It may not be exactly the way you wanted the guitar to look but it may be better than the scorch marks.

One thing I have learned about making guitars and violins...you have to learn how to work around your mistakes!! You have so much time invested that you cannot just trash a nice instrument for a cosmetic issue.

I have been told that a lot of European maple is bleached using various chemicals and that their residues will react with the metal of bending machine straps etc. Does the discoloraton coorespond with the areas that were in contact with metal?

I once scorched the waist area on a Flamed maple Archtop that I was building. I tried to scrape it as much as I dared go and then bleach it. I was unsuccessful. It’s my guess that the wood that’s turned to carbon is not bleachable. I then tried to use a dark stain on it to see if I could hide it…that didn’t work either. Those marks just don’t seam to go away. I bent a new side and considered it a learning experience.
Burn marks can be a real bummer.

_________________
Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"

I too agree with Brad and Barry's posts.

For maple banjo necks where clients want the natural look I will generally wipe on some diluted Mohawk's Ultra Penetrating Stain. The figured end grain will absorb the stain and highlight the figure. Once it has dried I sand the maple back to white. The 'flame' will still have a hint of stain and can nicely highlight the figure.

Of course I recommend testing on some scrap first. Who knows it's worth a shot...