Finished massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18! with video

Take us through building your guitar step by step. Post pictures and tell us what you're doing.
johnnparchem
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by johnnparchem »

John do you know the stain used on these guitars to get the mahogany dark. I got close playing with tobacco brown and amber (two tints that I had), but not really correct.
tippie53
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by tippie53 »

on these older one it was a combination of 2 stains and lets not forget the age
a red mahogany first with a dark mahogany on top of the
the sealer as applied over that and the filler followed by another sealer
then finish

I use a few materials mostly minwax
special walnut
dark walnut
ebony
and a few others look at the minwax selection and get a few from red to really dark and start playing. It took me a while to get it.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
johnnparchem
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by johnnparchem »

Bit by bit I am making progress. I closed the cracks on the top and back and installed cleats to keep them closed. When looking at the pictures keep in mind that I want to maintain the history of the smashed guitar. I hope to cleanly install the veneer, but the old and the new wood will be obvious, maybe even outlined with black fiber purfling.

I made an insert that included a tongue to reinforced the intact but cracked area in the sides and kerfed linings to replace the missing linings and assure a good glue joint to the top and back. I was going to use a 1 mm cross grain strip, but could not find one long enough. Instead I thinned an orphaned side to 1 mm, bent it to shape, installed the kerfed linings than fitted and glued it into the guitar. It is recessed in about 1.5-2.0 mm to allow me to inlay a mahogany veneer.

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A couple of orphaned sides to work with. I pick these up in the sale bins on the various tonewood sites. Often they sell a batch of unlabeled sides cheap

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I made a cardboard template for the insert.

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I bent the insert to the correct shape. It took a bit to get it to fit in the guitar. Once fitted I installed the linings and so reinforcement strips.

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Instead of gluing all at once. I used hot hide glue to glue the tongue inside the cracked area. I made special shaped cauls attached to a spreader clamp to some what gently provide an internal backing. (sorry no pictures). I installed a few small cleats on the top and back to help me set the depth on the insert.

With all of the in place I was able to use hot hide glue to glue the insert onto place.

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The small gap is where the back brace comes in. The kerfing was inset to the accommodate the brace.
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The neck step is to make the veneer. I traced the shape onto some paper. I bend the side veneer to the correct shape. THen I had a nutty idea to put the template on the inside as it would be easier to cut out the shape. I say nutty because I did not flip the template so cut out a mirror image of what I wanted.

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I took the veneer back to the bender and reversed the bend. I will redo the veneer though as it is not as smooth of a bend as I want. That is why I stopped tonight.

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tippie53
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by tippie53 »

that is the way you do that
looking good
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Kevin Sjostrand
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Location: Visalia, CA

Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

Wow what a project John. So will you blend in, or cover the ragged area? Not sure I'm getting this.
johnnparchem
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by johnnparchem »

Kevin Sjostrand wrote:Wow what a project John. So will you blend in, or cover the ragged area? Not sure I'm getting this.
I have a piece of mahogany that I have cut out to fit into the area with the new wood. I am treating it like an inlay. I will as best as possible match the stain on the mahogany inlay. But I will emphasize with black the jagged area. When finished it will look like an old beat up guitar, but it will be functional.
johnnparchem
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by johnnparchem »

After making an inside out patch and rebending it, I decided to start fresh. I still had the other half of the orphaned side I was using and it only take a few minutes to bend into shape. I did apply a few things I learned on the first attempt. Like before I traced out the outline rubbing on the outline with a pencil. THis time I cut it out the pattern and spend a bit of time getting it closer fitting it to the guitar. When ready I taped the pattern to the side of the side and cut close with a band saw.

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It did take a combination of a plane for the top and back edges, chalk, chisels, files and sanding sticks to fit the inlay

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I spend a few moments to decide how to clamp it, after a trial run I decided on the belt clamp. I used fish glue to give me a bit more time to fuss around. Yes I do work bare foot and in my pajamas, retirement is great!

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johnnparchem
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by johnnparchem »

I will play with the color a bit more. Maybe a little bit of yellow, or less red. This with done with Red Mahogany, tobacco brown and a touch of black.

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Here is what I had before the stain (just some naptha)

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Kevin Sjostrand
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by Kevin Sjostrand »

Boy John this is really interesting and amazing how it's turning out
johnnparchem
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Re: Massive repairs to 1951 Martin 0-18

Post by johnnparchem »

I sanded off all of what I put on yesterday and sanded into the original finish a bit more. I remixed the dye with less red a and a bit more amber. It is not perfect, but looks ok unless looking right at it. The repair is very solid. The guitar has a clean drum like tap sound.

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Last edited by johnnparchem on Sun Mar 05, 2017 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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