Sealing cracks

[AcousticAmber]

Hi all. I have recently repaired a GS mini that had multiple top cracks, two broken braces and a half lifted top.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/147703...posted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147703...posted-public/

I successfully repaired the braces and glued the top down so it is structurally sound. I also repaired all the cracks so they're now strong and (mostly) flat. I strung it up and it plays great, the cracks don't appear to have affected the sound.

My question now is, what is the best way to seal the cracks on the top? I used Titebond original in all the cracks and as usual it shrunk as it dried, leaving a little valley in the cracks so they're not perfectly smooth.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/147703...posted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/147703...posted-public/

I've used CA before to seal cracks, but I find its really hard to get it JUST in the crack and it spills over, so when I sand it flat and buff it, the visible CA comes out really shiny and it looks bad, especially on satin. Or is this just me?

Is the only other option to re-finish? I'm worried about spraying finish over top of just the cracked areas, because I don't think I'll be able to successfully blend it into the existing finish (only tried this once before and it didn't work out to my liking). And I'd rather not re-finish the whole top, but I will if required.

Or do I just leave it as is? Advice appreciated

[mirwa]

First question is it yours or are you doing it for someone else.

Steve

[AcousticAmber]

Originally Posted by mirwa

First question is it yours or are you doing it for someone else.

Steve

Hey Steve, this one is for me. It will be my new travel guitar

[mirwa]

Easy then.

For future reference titebond is a great glue, but not for tops IMO, when you sand titebond it picks up the oxide from the sandpaper and discolours the glue line.

Just drip fill with CA the current fracture, you are missing wood so that makes it more difficult to be invisible.

After say 6 rounds of drip filling you can take a razor blade and sand the sharp ends of and then scrape the surface flat.

Steve

[AcousticAmber]

Thanks for your always helpful advice Steve you are much appreciated.

And what would you suggest if I were doing it for someone else?

[mirwa]

If it was a clients guitar.

First I would be super meticulous in the alignment, this goes a long way on the end result.

I also would not use wind up clamps, I am referring to the ones where you drill a small hole and feed a wire through, I can see that is what you have used, those wire marks are now there forever.

Glue the top up with hide or fish glue.

Re-inforce the insides with cleats.

Splice in any missing wood with some donour wood.

Draw with a razor blade some fake grain lines.

Scrape surface smooth.

Flat sand smooth with a block.

Colour paint the area.

Here is an example, I picked out a similar guitar to the one your doing, but cracks were not as bad initially as yours.

Steve

[rogthefrog]

That's some impressive repair work from both of you.

[Bruce Sexauer]

I am surprised that a different standard applies to self compared to other.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

I am surprised that a different standard applies to self compared to other.

Not at all.

My personal guitar Taylor 810, has a multitude of dings on it, small cracks and marks.

A mechanics car is usually the one that blows smoke, a painters car is usually the one that needs a paint job, a gardeners lawn needs mowing. I find when someone does it for a living they usually do the bare minimum on their own personal goods, as they are so busy making a living doing said jobs.

If a repairer / builder has plenty of time on their hands, or are twiddling their thumbs during the day then possibly they should make their instrument look better, my concern would be, why do they have spare time on their hands?

Steve

[AcousticAmber]

Sorry to bring up a semi-old post but I thought I'd update. I spared some weekends and late nights to do this properly since its a brand new GS and will accompany me for many miles of travel.

I called Taylor and they informed me that GS minis have no stain whatsoever. If anything, it might have a grain filler. This particular one did not. They also informed me that it is finished with conversion varnish.

So I ended up sanding just the cracked areas flat, and sprayed over them with conversion varnish and the catalyst (I got them from Sherwin Williams). I'm only temporarily set up in Florida before I move back to Australia so I don't have a compressor and was using one of those spray cans with a jar on the bottom to do this. Never again. The varnish is pretty thick and it wasn't coming out nicely at all. So I went and got some thinner. Didn't help hardly at all. This stuff is awesome though (but super carcinogenic) and it colour matched perfectly but I couldn't get it to work for me with what I have.

I ended up sanding the whole top and re-finishing with rattle can Colortone nitro that I had handy. The colour didn't match as well as with the conversion varnish but I think it looks ok. It's not perfect and you can still see some of the damage but overall, I'm happy with it.

(Sorry about the vastly different lighting in the before and after photos)

[IMG]GS mini re-finish by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/147703892@N05/], on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]GS mini re-finish by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/147703892@N05/][/IMG]


Steve, you noticed those holes from the string-clamp method. Dan Erlewine uses that method so I thought I'd give it a try since its going to be my traveller anyway. It was the first time I'd done it and will don't think I'll ever do it again because yep, you can see the holes... It does make it very easy to get the cracks flat though, and you're adding the cleats at the same time

[mirwa]

Not to bad.

With dan, you have to remember he makes videos tutorials and so forth for a business that sells repair goods.

My point is, really he is showing how a product is being used rather than IMO endorsing a product.

Yes those pull up clamps work good but those holes are for keeps, you can only hide them now if you do a wood graft over the top and blend that in.

Steve

[TEK]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Easy then.

For future reference titebond is a great glue, but not for tops IMO, when you sand titebond it picks up the oxide from the sandpaper and discolours the glue line.

Just drip fill with CA the current fracture, you are missing wood so that makes it more difficult to be invisible.

After say 6 rounds of drip filling you can take a razor blade and sand the sharp ends of and then scrape the surface flat.

Steve

Steve,
What glue do you recommend one uses for joining tops?
Travis

[Drover]

Yes,,, Very thin CA works just fine..I have used it and not installed cleats...I also use magnets to get everything lined up properly....

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by TEK

Steve,
What glue do you recommend one uses for joining tops?
Travis

For light coloured tops hide glue or fish glue.dark coloured tops titebond, internal cleats titebond

You can also use titebond on light coloured tops, but try to avoid sanding it, scrape it flat with a blade, sanding titebond glue has a tendency to discolour the glue line as it picks up the oxides from the sandpaper.

Steve

[TEK]

Originally Posted by mirwa

For light coloured tops hide glue or fish glue.dark coloured tops titebond, internal cleats titebond

You can also use titebond on light coloured tops, but try to avoid sanding it, scrape it flat with a blade, sanding titebond glue has a tendency to discolour the glue line as it picks up the oxides from the sandpaper.

Steve

Thanks Steve

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