17" Archtop Jazz Guitar finally starting it 5 years late!

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Update:
I have the body sides scraped and sanded flat and top and back binding scraped level.
I've done most of the recurve back and top but will still work more there. Some minor shaping yet to do to blend the arching into the recurve.

I have the headstock binding cleaned up and the fretboard glued to the neck blank and the putfling/binding glued on. The fretboard is radiused with the purfling attached. Now I'll use the 12' radius block to bring the binding down.

My main boo boo on this guitar is in the pic on the butt end to the right. When bending the first side at the cutaway I had some pretty major cracking going on on the inside bend. I wasn't sure what to do. What I decided was to straighten the side and flip it, rebending the other end for the cutaway and try to not crack it again. This worked but I had the cracked area now on the outside where you see it. I thought with the gluing up the fibers it might not show.....NOT.
As you can see it does. Later I realized if I'd switched side plates and used this one for the non cutaway it would have been on the inside and be a non issue.
Well this came to me too late. So....
My plan was to do a honey amber finish on this guitar but that repair is going to show. So now I'm considering a sunburst so I can hide it. But..... I've never sprayed a sunburst so that will be a first.
Any ideas or wisdom for me on this decision?

[phavriluk]

Ummm. Yuck. Time to think.

I may be being wildly behind the analysis curve, but has the problem area been sanded for finishing and a wipedown with naphtha been applied? Any cause for hope? Use Duco Cement as a gapfiller across the break and blocksand everything?

Stain the body?

This is way more educational than anybody expected, for sure.

I hope some kind of epiphany appears on a thunderbolt

Good luck.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I filled it with CA at the time if the crack to stabilize it. It is filled and flat. Yep wiped it with naphtha and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
I'm pursuing a sunburst that will have a dark brown opaque finish on parts of the sides....of course that area.
Or I just spray it with Amber and live with it.😩🤣🙃😀

[Diane Kauffmds]

I'm sorry. I should go back to look, but is it maple? CA doesn't play well with a couple of woods; maple is one. It can turn it yellow. This may be part of the problem. The only solution that I can think of is to use ca on the sides, so the color is even all the way around. It won't make the crack disappear, but it'll keep the ca from highlighting it.

I've never been able to "disappear" cracks across the grain. The only thing that comes to mind is to do something decorative. I think I'd just continue to experiment different finishing schemes on a scrap piece of wood with a crack, that's been treated with ca, so you'll see realistic results.

An opaque finish is unappealing to me, because it'll mask the true nature of the wood. Is there any figure in the wood? If so, what about popping the figure and grain by dying it a dark color, then sanding it until you like the look? Finish as planned. That would draw attention to the grain and any figure.

Another idea is a weird one, but it might work. Create another "crack" mirroring this one, on the opposite side. Call it a wood defect. I had an Anniversary Washburn in my shop, that was all maple. It developed a crack across the grain, from the lower right corner of the bridge. Not only was it an eye sore, but you could feel it.

Since you can't hide an across the grain crack, I highlighted the crack with rub in crack filler in ebony, and I used tracing paper to trace the crack. I went to the other corner of the bridge, and turned the tracing over to mirror image it, I used an xacto knife, I created another "crack". When filled with ebony rub in filler, it looked like it belonged. In fact you could create a few of these here and there. No one would be the wiser. Use wherever color of rub in crack filler that appeals to you. Finish as planned.

If you decide to use the ca as I suggested, do it outside Kevin, or wear a respirator and ventilate well. The fumes are horrible; they can even fog up plastic, permanently. You can pore fill with ca. I tried it once and the fumes made me cough for a week.

[Morecowbell]

Kevin,

Thanks for the info on the planes and very sorry to hear about that crack!

One thing that comes to mind is something I used to do on my chairs, which was to use oil paint for touch ups. I never had to take it to this level but the idea is that you would get the area clean, filled and smooth. Then you get your handy dandy oil paints and start mixing colors to match the various grain colors you've got, and then you paint in the grain you need. Of course this is incredibly fiddly and microscopic, but this group is better attuned to that than most! You would need some fine brushes, a good eye for color, a lot of patience, magnification, and some luck. The downside is that even if you get a good "faux" grain match the oil paints can look opaque.

Anyway - a very long shot but might be worth a try if the opaque sunburst is the alternative.

Good luck with whatever you decide -

C

[Stray Feathers]

Kevin, that's very discouraging. I don't care for painted guitars, but if I were in your shoes, I think I might take it as an opportunity to try one, either black back and sides with maple top, or all black (or classy burgundy or ???). I guess that presents problems because you have already levelled bindings etc. Maybe an ebonized finish? Bruce W.

[TEETERFAN]

I darkened the heel and back of peghead on the neck of my Ziricote build, for only cosmetic reasons. The darkest parts are opaque enough to hide. Perhaps you could do something like that, going dark at the body ends and lighter at the waist. Then sunburst top/back.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Thanks guys, (and gal) 😀 for all your help and input.
I've decided I will do a tobacco burst...3 color. Black, tobacco brown and amber.....I think. Or maybe black, mahogany red and amber.
I'll do the sides bursted also using the black at the end enough to cover the bad spot then in the waist and at the neck heel area. I've found a picture of one I like so will probably try and mimic it.

I won't be doing the finish until next spring so still lots of time to figure it all out. Looks like Stewac rattle cans for the color will work out well so I won't need to try and mix my own and I'll use my HVLP rig for all the clear.

I think I'll be happiest with this kind of result....if I can do a good job of it.

Here is the fingerboard binding all cleaned up and radiused. Looking good.

Back onto the violin today....time for the finish. Check out the violin project thread for the progress there

[carld05]

I've done a few bursts now, all to cover a boo boo of some sort. After sealing and a couple of coats of clear nitro, I've added drops of Transtint to alcohol and sprayed layers of that until I liked the result, then resumed coats of nitro. Practice on scrap first. If you don't like how it looks you can wash it off with alcohol and try again.

[carld05]

The layers of color were "misted" on, not like layering a coat of finish. Takes some time.