Body Puncture

[Diggum]

Hi all! I'm a newb to this forum, and joined because of my most recent hobby of learning to play (and buy/sell guitars until I find the perfect one for me). I picked up a beautiful Epiphone guitar, and found when I got it home that something punctured the side of the body, right where it would rest against your leg. I'm considering one of the following to repair it:

1. Cyanoacrylate pushed into the broken area and compressed while it cures.

OR

2. Two part clear epoxy "pulled" through the crack via a vacuum pump on the opposite side of the area, then compressed while it cures.

Ideally, I'd like this spot whole and as invisible as possible. Do either of these options sound viable, or are there other recommendations?

[DenverSteve]

Originally Posted by Diggum

..I picked up a beautiful Epiphone guitar, and found when I got it home that something punctured the side of the body, ...

Welcome to the board. What the.........? How did "something" puncture the side of the guitar.....on the ride home? Or, are you saying that there is a puncture to the guitar that you missed when evaluating it? If it's the latter, I would take it back.

[mirwa]

Photos needed, every repair is different, its subjective to the size shape remaining wood and so forth

My bread and butter is made doing these sort of repairs

Steve

[Diggum]

Originally Posted by DenverSteve

Welcome to the board. What the.........? How did "something" puncture the side of the guitar.....on the ride home? Or, are you saying that there is a puncture to the guitar that you missed when evaluating it? If it's the latter, I would take it back.

I missed it when I picked it up, and it was not shown in the photos. I paid $40 for the guitar, and other than the puncture, it's in great condition, so I won't get too crazy about it.

Originally Posted by mirwa

Photos needed, every repair is different, its subjective to the size shape remaining wood and so forth

My bread and butter is made doing these sort of repairs

Steve

Steve, thank you for the help. I'll get a picture and post it shortly (once I figure out how to do so on this forum).

[Diggum]

OK, imgur seems to be the way to go!

Here are pics of the puncture:





Thank you!

And sorry about the goo on the guitar. I've not yet cleaned it (I typically use white vinegar and water, with a drop of dish soap in it).

[mirwa]

Thats a nice easy one to do.

I can only explain my process how you adapt it at your end is your call.

I would slip a treble e string through the hole and feed the string up to the sound hole.
Attach a cleat and cover it with glue, then draw the string back up to the hole, this will locate the cleat behind the crack.
Work the surface of the crack with some titebond glue as well
Apply a pulling pressure to the string and work the area flat.
Hang the guitar by the string overnight
Remove string, wipe clean with warm cloth, allow to dry.
Drip fill any voids with lacquer
Sand and buff

Steve

[Diggum]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Thats a nice easy one to do.

I can only explain my process how you adapt it at your end is your call.

I would slip a treble e string through the hole and feed the string up to the sound hole.
Attach a cleat and cover it with glue, then draw the string back up to the hole, this will locate the cleat behind the crack.
Work the surface of the crack with some titebond glue as well
Apply a pulling pressure to the string and work the area flat.
Hang the guitar by the string overnight
Remove string, wipe clean with warm cloth, allow to dry.
Drip fill any voids with lacquer
Sand and buff

Steve

Thank you for the advice, Steve! I'd not considered a cleat (and had to actually look up exactly what that was, since the first thing that came to mind was the nautical type that you tie off to), but that' the way to go, for sure. I'm going to try to work out a way, though, that will prevent me from drilling through the body to attach the cleat, and make this repair as invisible as possible. I saw some strong magnets in a video being used as clamps, and really like the idea of doing this. Going to amazon to find some super strong magnets, now!

Cheers!

[mirwa]

High end martin with a punched hole, can PM you the step by step tutorial I have on the process, here are a couple of extracts

Before



After



Using a treble e string

[Diggum]

Wow, that turned out awesome, Steve! And I'd appreciate the PM, if you're willing to share. In particular, I'm curious as to how you got that finish looking so beautiful, again. Stunning!

Great looking workshop, by the way!

[mirwa]

As I mentioned crack repairs are my bread and butter, Pm sent

Steve

[redir]

Hey for $40 bucks that's not to bad though.

I use guitar strings to cleat cracks to but made some tuner clamps. Can't remember where I got the idea for that but it's a common technique. One of the more common error in crack repair is not aligning the cracked halves perfectly so once the glue dries you realize that the two halves didn't come together perfectly. The cleat on the inside and the flat tuner clamp makes taht alignment for you. Of course your repair is different, it's a dent that needs to be pulled.

[Diggum]

Thanks, guys! A lot of great information here!

Got the PM, Steve. Thanks, again!

[lonecedar]

Hi Mirwa

I have a similar issue with a Martin OM-21. it does not look like it went through the wood from the inside but I need to fix the finish damage.

Can you please PM me your steps also? I appreciate it.

Thanks

-Pat

[mirwa]

If its just finish, then just drip fill with nitro / wet sand and buff, link sent

Steve

[Diggum]

I finally made some time to repair my Epiphone, starting down the path that Mirwa provided. I even made a tuner clamp (quick and dirty, but with rubber pads to protect the body of the guitar). It works surprisingly well, for an embarrassingly crude cobbling of scrap material.