It's amazing stuff though isn't it. Still amazes me how good the repair looks after you sand it back, looks like it is going to shadow with white and then polishes up looking like new.
I bought some wood pens, like felt tips and you could colour match the area. It wasn't perfect as it darkens around the edges slightly but once you sand back the CA it's hardly noticeable. Would have worked well on that crack near the pick guard for example.
I had another couple of hours on it today filling the two holes. Gotta make it worse to make it better
The front hole. Clamp up , score the surface and cut out the damaged wood.
Same with the hole on the back
Next step is to make the interior fillers. An off-cut from a Venetian blind is perfect. Mark it out and trim it roughly to shape, then shape it with sandpaper and test the fit until it's right.
The unusual shape is to work around the bracing inside the guitar.
I was thinking of using wood glue but since I don't have the clamps to get right inside the guitar, so CA glue is the better option. When it was glued in place I leached more CA into the joint.
I made a piece for the hole in the back in a similar way, again adjusting for the bracing. This hole is some distance from the sound-hole so the bolt allowed me to pull the filler close to position, apply the CA glue then pull it up to make the joint. The clamp was needed just to level out the top.
What have you got planned for the binding? I looked into binding a guitar before and you need a heat gun to shape the material, not sure if that would effect the glue joint repairs. Black epoxy filler sanded to shape might be an alternative.
Thanks. I've not made a decision on binding as yet. Maybe heat it in a jig and preform it to match the radius, then glue it on with plenty of tape holding it until dry.
Today I made the laminate fillers for the surface patches. These are made of backing wood (Venetian blind slats again) and the veneer.
Sanded the slats level and removed the finish.
Next I cut matching pieces from the veneer while being mindful of matching the grain direction to the guitar top.
Glued the veneer and slat then sandwiched and clamped them between two chopping boards.
While they dried I set about removing the CA glue from the cracks on the guitar.
I made a scraper from a craft knife using masking tape either side of a centre section to create a depth stop. This means scraping to actual guitar top is minimised.
Scraped most of the CA away from the 3 cracks. The ding on the lower bout was both depressed and raised on the edges, hence why the wood is showing.
The scraper did a good job, the top is now ready for sanding but there's plenty to do before I get to that stage.
Coming on nicely...though some of those pictures look like something a bit dodgy you might find in a real rock star's dressing room (thinking of the white powder ).
Yeah, thumbnails look like you've been on the hokey cokey, blade and all.
Preparation for finishing is a PITA but more time spent gives a better finish (which is why most of my finishes have pit holes, dull spots...)
I've started making a tele body to play about with, thinking of having a go at binding once I get the correct router bit. I'll let you know how I get on with the heat gun method for shaping... if I get that far.
Author: hyperfish
25-11-2019 21:15:52
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