Official Luthiers Forum!

On the final stretch getting ready to do the final sanding down before Tru Oil and a crack developes in the upper wing. I'm ready to cry.
My first thought is to thin down some titebond and work it in, then sand down the area to make sawdust and fill it with sawdust and glue. Or would superglue work better?

I really do not want to cut out the wings and redo them.

Any recommendations?

Well Jim, That's a big steaming pile of "that sucks".

Is your humidity real low down there in GA.? If so, I'd be inclined to go with your first thought of thinned tightbond and some clamps to close it up and also get the moisture content back to a proper level. Does the split go all the way through the maple or is it just the mahogany?

Steve

i'd say yer screwed; looks like the whole wing will bust off some day. must not have been very well seasoned wood!

No, you're not screwed. I'd say you're probably on track with the titebond idea. If it were mine, that's the route I'd take. I'd work the crack open slightly and use a syringe to squirt in the thinned titebond. Clamp it back up, and you're home free.

If it were ME, I would question as to whether it will be doing the same thing in other spots down the road ..... now for the question of the night - did this occur right after sanding it? And what kind of wood is it... and was it seasoned properly - if it was, I would try to see if you could get a refund - I would also try some watered-down tightbond with some clamps - or put some inlay in there!

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

I'd be wary about a repair that raises the moisture content, which will then lower again. I'm with Virgil in that I'd be wondering what else will happen down the road, unless you've been running a heater and the moisture content is down to 6 percent or something. That being said, I've also encountered cracks from sanding REALLY hard woods with a power sander when they have gotten hot from friction, usually in endgrain. If the wood seems strong enough, I'd consider bondo and a solid color finish. Otherwise, I'd bandsaw off the wings and start over.

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!

Two bolts and a piece of sheet metal.

No really, I think you can fix it just fine. I wonder if you could get an epoxy thin enough to work in there. That would be better than titebond. Might help to pry it open a little more, trying not to damage the pieces that will fit together, if at all possible. At the very worst it wont be as pretty, unless you redo it of course. But I'd try fixing it first.

_________________
http://www.tinyhouseandland.com

If you want to color match the wood, you will have to use CA (super glue) and some saw dust in there, clamp it, then sand it clean, if you plan on painting that (which is what I would recommend) I would use titebond and some saw dust, I haven't had much luck getting a perfect color match with titebond and saw dust, it's always a little off.
Either way i would recommend getting a syringe and injecting glue in the crack then clamping it.

Heres my idea: Pull the top of the body up to make the crack continue until the body breaks (essentially rip the cracked part right off of the body) then glue it back in place. Not sure how this would work. Im hoping that the other guys on this forum offer some input in my idea on whether it would work, or fail

I'd cut it apart right through the crack wide enough to clean it all up...and then do it again symetrically on the other side....then laminate in some purple heart strips to replace the areas removed.

It might be a hassle but it'll also be fixed...being a groovy design element instead of a fixed crack.

I'd say you were screwed until it once again looks planned....and also unitl the body is actually stress relieved. This would do both.

_________________
I read Emerson on the can. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds...true...but a consistent reading of Emerson has its uses nevertheless.

StuMusic

Good idea Stuart. Maybe some rosewood to match the fret board.

With any of my faux pa's I like to somehow turn it into a "Design Implementation" as Stuart mentioned - it's not just FIXING something, but making something look cooler - I did that on a FretBox recently (You can see the pic of the first fretbox pictured with the letter "H" on it here: http://www.fretboxes.com ) - stupid me accidentally screwed the hinges on the wrong side and after pondering the sichemakashun, I realized that putting Wengewood strips into the part where the holes were drilled, it ended up making the box look even cooler - the end result: the client ended up paying MORE. Maybe it's the optimist in me, but I almost enjoy/expect things to go awry just to do more creativity. Also, this is a learning process for you - you are going to see what works and what doesn't - take some run-offs from the body(I ALWAYS save that stuff!) force a split on the scrap and try to fix it with the 3 main adhesive suggestions: CA Glue, Titebond & Epoxy. You will acquire techniques that will be added to your arsenal for future mishaps. The cool thing is, that if it looks like crap, you have the option to cut them off, get some better wood on there OR you can even PAINT the wings a solid color and fill the gaps with duck butter. Good luck man and carry on.

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

If you need help with crack (as the topic hints) I suggest a good rehabilitation institution.
I'm also a fan of stuarts idea.
Using glue and sawdust never comes out perfect and there will always be a mark.

_________________

The wood is sapele. I've had it for at least a year. It is still very solid, tried clamping it and it wouldn't move. It seems to have closed up a bit. Had a lot of rain then cold and dry out. Two extremes. No heater in the shop. But I was fooling around with my new Makita Orbit sander I got on sale.

Thanks all for your help and replies. I realize it will never be perfect. But as you'll see it will have a little character. Besides I'm to the point I want this one done. Worked glue into the crack, attempted to pry it open, barely, to get the glue down into the crack. Wiped up the excess and sanded it down to work it into the crack. Sanded it all over with an orbit sander at 180 grit and hand sanded where it wouldn't reach with 220. Wiped it down with mineral spirits. Awesome!






Besides, A blind man on a galloping horse at midnight will never know the difference.

Those guys usually only play bad 80's music anyways.

_________________
"Talking about music is like dancing over architecture".
See the most insane first guitar build: http://www.virgilguitar.com
http://www.youtube.com/VirgilGuitar

That looks pretty good!

_________________
Old growth, shmold growth!