Joined:
December 2011
Posts: 7
| You may recall that my 1617 had a 6" long bowl/top separation.
I proceeded to repair it as follows :
I made up a sample mix of epoxy resin adhesive (coloured black using Lamp Black pigment from an artist suppliers)
However the first mix failed to set to the required strength.
I believe that the epoxy resin sample was too old, confirmed when I purchased and mixed a new sample.
If you intend to do this repair, I advise adding a small amount of pigment to the resin until you get an even black, then add the hardener.
I then removed the 'electrics' and cleaned out 35 years of dust etc from the inside. I must confess that the finish of the bracing left a lot to be desired ! I spent some time with fine sandpaper removing rough spots from everything I could reach. While the sandpaper was out, I masked off the bridge and gave it a careful rub down along the grain, finishing it off with Lemon Oil. It looks great!
I constructed a simple clamp having wooden beams top and bottom and threaded rods, adjusted by wing nuts, at each end. I used 19mm x 19mm pine cut into 20"lengths(drilled at 18"centres) and M6 threaded rod cut into 10" lengths. It was simpler to assemble the clamp using wing nuts(7) top and bottom of both beams. This stopped the assembly flopping about and possibly causing damage.
I made up a pad shaped to 'cover' the area of the separation from 3/8" MDF and a similar smaller pad for the
other side. The area of pad in contact with the top was protected with a layer of thin foam packaging material.
At the first trial assembly it became obvious that the bottom beam needed a larger area in contact with the bowl.
I made up a pair of small wooden 'saddles' shaped to fit the bowl contour, which were glued to the bottom beam.
I cleaned out the separation using a thin saw blade, and masked off both sides of the area to be glued. I applied glue generously to the problem area, forcing it into the
'split' using an old credit card!
It remained to re-assemble the clamp and carefully squeeze the top back into its correct position. You have to be sensible at this point, as it is no longer possible to judge the width of the now glue filled 'split'. Also you have just 20 minutes before the epoxy becomes unworkable!
After 10 minutes you remove the surplus adhesive, credit card again! and peel off the masking tape. Next day (24hrs)
you can remove the clamp and admire your repair!
The glue line is clearly visible as a thin glossy black line, so it was well worth using the pigment. I can also feel a small bead of adhesive inside the guitar along the problem area, so the credit card did its job!
I will try to post some photos of the repair in the next few days. |
Legend restoration/repair part 1 update