Martin 1947 000-28 FINISHED

Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Martin 1947 000-28 FINISHED

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

This lovely lady is owned by a gentleman in Georgia. He's entrusted me with quite a few old Martins.

This girl isn't too bad. Someone had installed 2 plastic doodads along the shoulders, which looked terrible. Of course, the glue ate into the nitro finish. The heat from shipping, caused them to fall off. LOL She also has a crack in the left side, lower bout. The neck needs reset, the fingerboard ss cracked, chipped, and the inlay was partially missing, so she'll get a new fingerboard. The bridge had a chip out of it about 15 x 12mm. The chip was in the bottom of the case, so I was lucky. Of course, the nitro finish is a mess. The guitar is a mass of scratches and gouges. The top had very little nitro left.

My game plan is to pull the neck, address the cracks, then address the finish and tuners. Lastly, I'll make another ebony fretboard. She's compression fretted, so this will be my first journey into this type of neck relief.

This one will be fun to work on.

I've already pulled the neck. I also took off the wood needed to reset the angle; I can simply reinstall it when I'm ready, so the reset is "done" sans the gluing.

I ended up taking off what little was left of the finish on the top. Most was missing and that area on top had to be cleaned. I had to address the dirt that had gotten into the top crack, as well as the dents.

I stabilized the crack in the spruce by using Titebond from the inside of the guitar. CA glue stains spruce and I need to finish the top. I used a suction cup to pull the glue into the crack from the bottom. I also installed a thin cleat made of adi, using rare earth magnets to clamp the cleat.

The side crack is about 3" long. I made a piece of veneer about 1/2" x 4" on my sanding station and bandsaw. I used CA glue along the crack to stabilize it. I installed the veneer, so that the grain line runs perpendicular to the sides of the guitar, using Rare Earth magnets to hold it in place while curing.

The tuners are original, but they're rusted; they will need to be cleaned up a bit.

Isabella was my task driver for the day.
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Last edited by Diane Kauffmds on Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

As you can see from the photos, the top is close to being ready for french polishing. I'll use potassium permanganate to oxydize the top to keep it looking like the 70 year old guitar that it is. I've been able to save the nitro on the back and sides.

Using oxalic acid, I lightened the dirt in the cracks, dents, etc. on the top. I used a fine eyeliner brush to I'm still in the process of doing this. I plan on minimizing the deep, small, dents with steam. When ready, the top will be french polished.

I was surprised at the amount of nitro still left on the back and sides. Using butyl acetate, I dissolved the finish into itself in the deeper scratches, which minimizes the appearance of the scratches. The back has a lot of unevenness. I decided to use alcohol to see if the nitro will smooth out. I was thrilled with the result.

I applied alcohol, as one would when french polishing. Using increasing force, the nitro softened enough to smooth. You can see the photos. I had to do this 3 times, then the shine started coming back. I'm simply redistributing the nitro. It hardens back very quickly. I will eventually have all of the back and sides done. Of course, some scratches and dents will remain, but it is 70 years old. It should not look new.

The tuners have rust, which has to be dealt with. I'll do further research to find out the best way of dealing with them.

Applying oxalic acid:
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Redistributing the nitro with alcohol. You can see the improvement with each step:

Untouched:
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After first polishing:
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After second polishing:
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Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
johnnparchem
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Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by johnnparchem »

Thanks, for posting. You are showing a bunch of great tips as well as an interesting project to watch.
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

johnnparchem wrote:Thanks, for posting. You are showing a bunch of great tips as well as an interesting project to watch.
Thank you John. I always learn from you.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
tippie53
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Location: Hegins, Pa
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Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by tippie53 »

your learning the craft well
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

tippie53 wrote:your learning the craft well
Thank you John. Your opinion means more to me than I can ever express. I learn from you every day. Thank goodness for this site.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
phavriluk
Posts: 554
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:49 pm

Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by phavriluk »

This is testament to showing respect to the instrument and its history. This restoration will bring life to the instrument while allowing us to see its history. Much better than stripping it to bare wood and pretending it was a new instrument. Its owner will be getting a work of art when all the work is done.
peter havriluk
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

phavriluk wrote:This is testament to showing respect to the instrument and its history. This restoration will bring life to the instrument while allowing us to see its history. Much better than stripping it to bare wood and pretending it was a new instrument. Its owner will be getting a work of art when all the work is done.
Thank you Peter. I think historical integrity is important.
Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Still working on the back. The belt rash is extensive. It's starting to smooth out, but it has a way to go. Of course it will never be like new, but it will look like a well taken care of vintage instrument.
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Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
Diane Kauffmds
Posts: 3246
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Martin 1947 000-28

Post by Diane Kauffmds »

Continuing with the repair, I applied the same principle on the sides of the guitar as I did the back. I used alcohol to redistribute the Nitro, so that the guitar had a more even patina.

I also worked on the top, which had three pretty deep gashes.. I bleached the gashes with oxalic acid. I used a soldering iron and a wet paper towel to steam out the dents. Here are the before and after pictures.

I also noticed that i could get my fingernail under the corner of the bridge. I had to remove it anyway, to finish the top. So, using the technique that John Hall uses, I used a Chisel and a hammer to tap it all the way around, and easily removed at the bridge without heat.

The bridge was going to have to be removed anyway, so that I can put shellac on the top. Since there's no Nitro left on the top, I will have French polish.
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Diane Kauffmann
Country Roads Guitars
countryroadsguitars@gmail.com
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