Troubleshooting 1970 D-18 repair
 

My buddy had an old dehydrated, neglected, cracked, D-18. I bought it from him for pennies... He said it was in storage for at least 15 yrs, the bridge was popped off, from what I suspect was a poor bridge reset attempt. I'm currently in the process of re-hydrating her; the concave back and top are swelling up nicely and the cracks are slowly closing up. My question is... has anyone seen and/or can anyone identify the glue*(mess)? Its almost tacky to the touch(when warmed up) almost like dried pine sap. I would like to save the finish as much as I can but I also want to remove as much of that mess as possible so It doesn't look like "I" screwed up a bridge reset. I wouldn't mind doing a refinish if necessary because id rather play it than worry about it "holding value." Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks Dave
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui...&sz=w1238-h391https://gm1.ggpht.com/JGWNOdXbaUdzgH...w1238-h391-l75

Without a pic it may be hard to say but nitro finish can get softened like that in the right/wrong conditions.

possibly HHG.

but no pix, no accuracy.....

pics
 

Sorry guys I thought i posted pics...

https://24.media.tumblr.com/3340e6aa...3w2o2_1280.jpg

https://31.media.tumblr.com/3340e6aa...3w2o3_1280.jpg

https://31.media.tumblr.com/0a98ed66...3w2o4_1280.jpg

https://24.media.tumblr.com/04aacf83...3w2o6_1280.jpg

hmm
 

If it is HHG, has anyone tried to remove glue that's been left for years and years?

HHG will dissolve with just warm water and a cloth, but I don't think that's what you have there.

Often times when I am puzzled about a task, I ask myself, "Can I solve that with a scraper?"

You could probably make good use of a scraper for your job.

Looks like whatever glue was used has etched into and softened the lacquer. I suspect that is also how those three spots below the bridge that go completely down to bare wood were formed, sure looks like a drip pattern there to me.

update
 

Ok, so I went at it with warm water and a scotch brite pad; It is a water based glue of some kind because it is breaking down, but it is really stubborn... So i'm taking it slow to not overload it with water... It seems as though the glue, under extreme humidity swings has seeped into some of the cracks and hardened, thus retarding the cracking process. But it looks like i'll be able to get most of the glue(all but the glue that has seeped into the checking) with just water and elbow grease.

I have one more question, this thing has a lot of cracks, a lot... after about two weeks of hydrating about %75 of the cracks have disappeared... Does anyone have experience with "top coating" with nitro on top of checked finish to 'hold everything together'? Is it worth it? Should I just repair the cracks traditionally and fix the individual finish chips? Like I said, I dont really care about this guitars value, so it doesn't bother me to do something that devalues it, I just wanna make sure i'm not wasting my time.
Thanks!
P.S. Heres a pic of the before and almost after... some of the glue is removed as well as the crack closing....https://24.media.tumblr.com/34f740de...13w2o1_500.jpg

Might be worth a visit to frets.com. There is a VAST amount of info regarding repairs on Martins.
http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Blog...8/37d28_1.html
Cheers
John

I repair all types of old lacquer finishes....If you are asking will a fresh coat of finish hold the cracks in the wood together, Absolutely not! If the cracks are simply crazing cracks in the finish that can be repaired with solvents and maybe some new lacquer but structural cracks in the wood will need repaired before you can think about finish repairs.

Thanks B. Howard,
Sorry I was unclear, I was planning on fixing the cracks first and I was asking about the finish farther down the line. Some of the crazing/checking has chipped away and was wondering if a 'top coat' could help keeping the chips and finish cracks in place...
Thanks!

Typically I rehydrate and re-almalgamate the existing crazed and checked finish first with the application of a blend of heavy solvents and retarders. Missing sections will need filled in either by drop fill if it is determined that no over-spray is wanted or needed or a burn in fill if I am going to put a new coat of lacquer on.