HELP! repairing a unique vintage steel

Ron Whitfield · From: Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA

Got this chopping block oldie off Ebay (#7405981188) recently, and not supprisingly it has a couple of seams that have sepperated slightly at the tail end and need to be reglued.

The problem areas can be some what accessed.
The tail cap conveniently popped off to expose the most open spots as it is still well together from the head stock to the high end of the fret board. When back in place, the cap will cover any cosmetic flaws from the repair.

My plan may be to drill a small hole between the splits at the tail to get a carpenters needle in about an inch to inject a thinned out amount of wood glue or ? and use gravity to get it as far as possible, then clamp her up.

Any experienced minds care to point out flaws in the plan, or have any thots to do it better?

Thanx!

Robert Murphy · From: West Virginia

I am a live long wood worker and have refinished some high end antiques, with that said, the very best approch to a permanent repair is to finish seperating the wood and reglue it like it was when it was made. clean out the old dried glue to the porous wood for a good bond. Anything less will be temporary. Maybe it will last for years but not as good as new.

Mark Vinbury · From: N. Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA

Ron- I just had a look at the pics on eBay. Since the body is laminated from thin pieces not just two halves as I had originaly envisioned,it may be that the seperated glue joint was just "glue starved " from the begining.
There may be enough bare wood in there so that your plan would work.I guess I'd drill more than one injection hole.I sometimes use a thin blade from a feeler gauge to spread glue into a joint.
I'd also test the clamping to see how much pressure is needed.There is a risk of clamp-denting the guitar.
If this gule-up doesn't hold then I'd saw, rout or carve out the joint to expose bare wood and fill with thickened epoxy.

[This message was edited by Mark Vinbury on 18 May 2006 at 07:20 AM.]

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