Headstock Repair
-
- Posts: 709
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:42 pm
- Location: Hummelstown, PA
- Contact:
Re: Headstock Repair
Yes, I think John is right on this one. AR glue will not stick very well to acrylics like CA, not much does. Epoxy is the way to go here.
You never know what you are capable of until you actually try....
Brian Howard
www.brianhowardguitars.com
Taylor authorized service
Custom finishing services
Brian howard's guitar building & repair blog
http://www.brianhowardguitars.com
Brian Howard
www.brianhowardguitars.com
Taylor authorized service
Custom finishing services
Brian howard's guitar building & repair blog
http://www.brianhowardguitars.com
-
- Posts: 557
- Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:49 pm
Re: Headstock Repair
Cyanoacrilate glues (aka 'super glue') is available in various forms (liquid, gel) at any model airplane hobby shop. The stuff is available in a bunch of viscosities, the thinner it is the faster it sets. Same hobby shops are a good source of small volumes of epoxy, should you want to go that route. My preferred hobby grade epoxy and super glues sold in the US are packaged by 'Pacer'. In Ireland, I can't say.
peter havriluk
-
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 12:35 pm
- Location: Ireland
Re: Headstock Repair
tippie53 wrote:I get to do a lot of head stock repairs. The best one I found yet is Gun stock epoxy. Yes the wood glues are good but here we are placing the glue into pure shear stress. Any compromise of the wood structure will show as a faliure. You naturally remove the tuners and make yourself 2 cauls , one for the top and one for the back of the headstock.
Use wax paper between the cawls and apply the epoxy and clamp. The one reason I use epoxy here is that you get gapping and most wood glues , especially the protein ( hide and fish glue ) are poor gap fillers, epoxy is a good gap filler.
Read the directions of your particular brand of epoxy. I use a brand that I get that is designed for gun stocks. I have yet to see this stuff fail. Cleans off well and helps act as a filler so the body and fender work on the finish repair is pretty good. 2000 psi 2 part epoxy will also work. Get the clear.
I bought the Devcon epoxy 2500 psi and did my repair. The owner had tried a home job by filling the crack with superglue and I tried to get as much of that out as possible but there may have been some still in there. Anyway, did the repair and used a ratchet strap to pull it all together as well as using cauls and clamps. Left it 24 hours and strung it up--the instructions says 8 hours cure time. Playing really nice --until I noticed something wrong--the crack had opened again. Failed repair !! Not happy.
Rusty
RUSTY
-
- Posts: 7013
- Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
- Location: Hegins, Pa
- Contact:
Re: Headstock Repair
When ever you are dealing with an attempted repair you have that risk as the best result is when you have clean wood.
You can reclamp this and add a spline to the headstock , this will give you a new wood surface and added glue surface.
Any joint that had an attempted repair is iffy.
You can reclamp this and add a spline to the headstock , this will give you a new wood surface and added glue surface.
Any joint that had an attempted repair is iffy.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
-
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 12:35 pm
- Location: Ireland
Re: Headstock Repair
tippie53 wrote:When ever you are dealing with an attempted repair you have that risk as the best result is when you have clean wood.
You can reclamp this and add a spline to the headstock , this will give you a new wood surface and added glue surface.
Any joint that had an attempted repair is iffy.
Thats an interesting suggestion John, Is there some link I could look at to see how it works or how to do it ?
Many Thanks
Rusty
RUSTY
-
- Posts: 7013
- Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
- Location: Hegins, Pa
- Contact:
Re: Headstock Repair
can you call me ?
My favorite way it to take the head veneer off then I can route 2 channels that intersect the crack. I set in the 2 filler splines sand flush then glue it in.. I do not use strap clamps , I make a cawl from 1/2 inch lexan , one for the top and one for the back. I clamp if that way so all is flat. I will tap the head veneer down with the clamps snug than tighen the heck out of the clamps.
With doing the repair under the veneer , it can hide and is not visible.
My favorite way it to take the head veneer off then I can route 2 channels that intersect the crack. I set in the 2 filler splines sand flush then glue it in.. I do not use strap clamps , I make a cawl from 1/2 inch lexan , one for the top and one for the back. I clamp if that way so all is flat. I will tap the head veneer down with the clamps snug than tighen the heck out of the clamps.
With doing the repair under the veneer , it can hide and is not visible.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
-
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 12:35 pm
- Location: Ireland
Re: Headstock Repair
tippie53 wrote:can you call me ?
My favorite way it to take the head veneer off then I can route 2 channels that intersect the crack. I set in the 2 filler splines sand flush then glue it in.. I do not use strap clamps , I make a cawl from 1/2 inch lexan , one for the top and one for the back. I clamp if that way so all is flat. I will tap the head veneer down with the clamps snug than tighen the heck out of the clamps.
With doing the repair under the veneer , it can hide and is not visible.
Thanks John , but I'm in Ireland and have a different timeline . Are the 2 channels along the length of the headstock or cross ways ? And do they run down into the neck ?
RUSTY
-
- Posts: 7013
- Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
- Location: Hegins, Pa
- Contact:
Re: Headstock Repair
It depends on the crack.
As long as you can get on both sides of the crack , that can help. The worst one I ever had was on a Gibson Gospel model. The headstock was fractured across the grain and an amateur attempt at a repair made this a mess. I made a board with a 15 degree rise so I could clamp the headstock and neck. I cross dovetailed across the bad repair and epoxied the dovetail filler piece. Then I had a stabilized neck. I removed the head veneer as it had to be replaced anyway. I then ran 2 spline through the head just missing the tuner holes. I used wood glue on the splines and replaced the head veneer.
He is still playing it and that was about 6 years ago. I use a toner on the finish and made it a few steps darker but it worked.
As long as you can get on both sides of the crack , that can help. The worst one I ever had was on a Gibson Gospel model. The headstock was fractured across the grain and an amateur attempt at a repair made this a mess. I made a board with a 15 degree rise so I could clamp the headstock and neck. I cross dovetailed across the bad repair and epoxied the dovetail filler piece. Then I had a stabilized neck. I removed the head veneer as it had to be replaced anyway. I then ran 2 spline through the head just missing the tuner holes. I used wood glue on the splines and replaced the head veneer.
He is still playing it and that was about 6 years ago. I use a toner on the finish and made it a few steps darker but it worked.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
-
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 12:35 pm
- Location: Ireland
Re: Headstock Repair
This is the break and as you can see someone tried a home repair job. The strong epoxy I tried on it did not hold it for me despite doing a careful job, and it has opened up again. I'm even thinking about re inserting those bolts that he used back in again to hold it together . Would that help?
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
RUSTY
-
- Posts: 7013
- Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:09 pm
- Location: Hegins, Pa
- Contact:
Re: Headstock Repair
you can spline from the nut up , that will get into the good wood on both sides.
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com