Back Bound

Tonight I put the original back binding in place again. Now I really am at the point where the only thing standing in the way of putting the neck back on, is the need for some kind of finish. French polish, or nitro-cellulos? Hmmmm......

Stripped!

As it turned out, there wasn't much 'original' finish underneath the paint. So, millions of brain cells later, here it is:

The body still needs prep work before the finish, but I like what I see. Soon, I'll re-install the back binding.

Back and Sides

This weekend, I hope to strip the back and sides of the guitar and get it ready to re-finish. I've been dragging my feet on this, because it seems like there might be some 'original' finish under there that I'd like to preserve; but I'm pretty sure getting the paint off means ruining the other. I'll just have to bite the bullet and strip the thing.

This weekend.

Top again

Here's the top after another round of stripper. I think it looks better. It also looks to me like the pickguard shadow from the 'guard that it came with proves that, at the very least it's been on the thing for a long time, and was there before the paint.

I am a bit discouraged about the paint/finish on the back and sides. It's a thin coat, and I think a round of stripper would go straight through and kill whatever original finish remains below.

...unless I use some of that citrus Safest Stiripper...?

Cleaned up

Here's the body after a round of glue removal from the edge. But, speaking of removal, I am convinced there is a layer of some sort of clear coat or something like that, on the back and sides. Underneath this--which I admit has a kind of old-guitar-funky-finish vibe--you can see that it looks the way a Martin mahogany back and sides should look. I think this coat of...whatever it is...needs to come off, but maybe I'll get a few professional opinions before I do anything rash.

The top still has a ways to go before it'll be ready for any kind of finish.

Back glued to sides

A three hour tour today with indispensible help from the Chisel took the two pieces and made them one. A momentous occasion for this battered old guitar. Suddenly, it really looks like a guitar again, rather than a weird woodworking project.

Pay no attention to that "mitebond" bottle back there. We have used hide glue for this job, and all gluing jobs on this Guitar Rescue project.

Now I need to clean off the excess hide glue on the ledge/edge of the guitar, and get it prepped to re-install the original binding.

The Silk Road

I wanted to add some strength to a few areas which have been repaired. My buddy Todd recommended using a piece of banjo head--skin--for top cracks. I am vascillating on whether or not I even need to cleat them at all, since they closed up so nicely. But, a few of the more major side cracks and bashes do need reinforcement, so I'm choosing to use some stuff my wife--an expert in all things fiber--guarantees is perfect for the job. It's silk organza. Traditionally guitar makers did, and still do, use fabric on the sides for reinforcement, but I believe they usually use linen. This organza she gave me is so strong and light, that when it's glued on the wood it becomes a mesh patch that just isn't going anywhere. Here's a glimpse or two:

The pic on the left the patch itself glued in place. On the right is a swatch of the organza, with the patch in the background. It seems like great material--tough and light. In addition, the color she gave me blends into the wood very nicely. I put a small bit of it over a repaired side crack near the heel block, and almost couldn't even find it afterwards.

Ready for glue

Yes, I will probably remove a bit more glue residue. I definitely have to fiddle around with the top and back some more, to get the fit right, but essentially, the two parts of the body are ready to become one again. Maybe this weekend?

Funky Crack

So, I glued up the funky crack on the bout near where the pickguard will be. It does look better than in the above photo now. I'll post a picture of it soon.

Top Cracks Revisited

There is still one top crack I haven't really dealt with, and that's because it has remained closed from an earlier repairman's work. I believe he used white glue, and even worse, it's not a very good repair. It could be improved upon if, and this is a big if, IF I can get the old glue out of it.

The finger brace which needs to be made would lay right across this crack. Unfortunately, there's a ledge instead of a nice flat surface for that brace to sit on. Re-repairing this crack would make the guitar look nicer on the outside, as well as giving the brace a good flat surface to be glued on, on the inside.

I'm itching to glue the back to the sides, but my better judgement says, fix this little mess before I do, or later I'll wish I had.

Miscelaneous gluing

Chisel came over again tonight and helped me do a little gluing here and there on the guitar. We decided that an extra brace needed to be added way down by the heel block, just to add some stability to all those cracks that have been closed up there. Yes, the heel block itself would tend to add some stability, but Chisel has noticed on the J-50 we rescued for him, that the area down there is a bit mushy. So...on goes the brace.

I took the spatula and checked around every brace in the top one last time to see if there were any gaps. It's pretty well all shored up. I did find that the heel block had a spot where the spatula went in pretty easily, so I slathered some hide glue in there and clamped it.

There was also a small side crack I discovered in the once-over that needed a bit of glue and clamping.

Tomorrow night I will make the small finger brace for the top, and I'll put some fabric patches on a few of the side cracks.

Not long now until the back will be re-glued to the rims.

More Strippage

On Sunday, the 29th, I spent a lot of time stripping the top. I'd put a coat of stripper on, close the thing in the new basement bathroom--which has an exhaust fan--and set the timer for fifteen minutes or so. By the end of the day I had most of the top stripped.  The "sunburst" finish meant that the paint at the edge of the instrument was thicker, and took several more coats to get down to the wood.

I did try to send another picture of the top in  mid-strip, but I must have mis-addressed it. (I'm using my wife's iphone now.) Anyway, the top is now pretty much stripped, though it is somewhat blotchy looking. There is a fair amount of general clean-up to be done as well--the binding is messy looking, the line around the bridge needs cleaning, and there are still quite a number of spots on the top which need to be attended to.

On the positive side though, I think it'll look pretty cool once it's got a coat of some kind of finish on it. This guitar will be all about funky, but I think it will wear its repairs well.

Strippers!

I got some new stripper--full strength stuff--and it did the job. I started on the area where the pickguard had been, which was covered with a thick layer of some sort of glue. It took several coats of the stuff to get it to this point, but I am satisfied that the job will be easier from this point. The treble bout took about an hour total time. Not bad. It's interesting that there appears to be a shadow from the pickguard below the layer of paint, suggesting that this same oddball pickguard was on the guitar previous to the paint job. Could it possibly be original?

The Chisel

Chisel came over last night and helped me glue in the bridge plate. This morning I removed the clamps and it looked great. The top is flat with all the braces glued down tight. The new bridge plate looks pretty white next to that aged wood, but who's going to see it?

At about 6:00 am, I put a layer of safest stripper on a corner of the top. A half hour later it seemed that the stripper had not done much--maybe it's too old. I have had the same bottle for years. Tonight I'll try some fresh stuff. I've decided to strip the top before I put the bridge on, and I want to put the bridge on while the back is still off...I think...

Bridge plate blues

I knew all along I'd need a new bridge plate, since the old one was split in two. Last night I made a template, and then cut out a rough idea of what I might install. Then I made a prototype, which may just wind up to be the final thing, with a little tweaking.

Here it is just sitting in the guitar, unglued. It looks massive, I admit, but the spruce beneath the bridge is in tough shape. It was drastically distorted from the force of the screws being tightened in a misguided attempt to either fasten the bridge or lower the action. These screws went into a piece of wood inside which straddled the X-brace. Someone tightened the screws to the point where the bridge and bridge plate collapsed and split. A pro luthier may have cut out the old area under the bridge, and replaced it; my thought was that the instrument would still need a larger bridge plate, and I'd be taking on a huge headache for not a lot of payoff. So--I'll just go with the larger bridge plate.

The new plate will have to be bigger than the original for stability, and to help to flatten out the wrinkles that have become a part of the top. So, as big as this looks, it may well be necessary. Some final shaping will be done, but it won't end up much smaller than this prototype.

Inside job

Well, at last progress has been made. Probably the fact that my workroom is finished--the bench finally set up--is the reason that I can now get some work done in there. Last night I decided that the top cracks were closed as well as I'll ever be able to close them, so it was time to work on the braces.

The first thing to do was to glue down the tone-bar brace which I had loosened up in order to give those top cracks some wiggle room. I glued this down and let it sit for several hours. Hide glue dries quickly, and the batch I was working with seemed about as perfect as it could be. The brace was soon tight to the top. I may still need to cleat the cracks, but the brace itself acts as a cleat, holding the crack in place too. I will need to clean off some of that excess glue. I hope the crack doesn't re-open when it feels that moisture.

Earlier, I had grafted a piece of spruce onto the end of the broken X-brace. I suspect most real luthiers would probably have replaced the whole thing, but I wanted to re-use what I could from the original parts.

Gluing this piece back in place was a two part glue job. The X was the fulcrum of the broken piece. First, I glued the brace downwards from the X to the bottom bout. After that was dry, I glued and clamped the brace upwards from the X to the top bout.

This morning, after I unclamped the whole thing, the top plate was nice and flat, while the braces I glued on last night were tight to the wood.  Holding the neck block, I gave the top a tap, and for the first time, it made a nice musical, sonorous tone.

Previously a tap had produced a depressing cardboard thud. There's hope for this old dog.

Work Progresses

Progress was made last night. The broken piece of the X-brace was finally glued--lengthened--and made ready to put back in place where it belongs. The big top crack was also finally glued and clamped. This morning the crack looked flat and tightly closed. It will never be invisible, but it looks tight and solid, so I'm happy.

Unfortunately, the camera is on the blink, so these repairs will remain undocumented. The 'after' pictures will have to tell the story.

Area 51 again

The blog itself took a backseat to the work on the guitar. I chipped away at area 51 and finally got it to the point where all that's left is detail work--clean off the excess glue, fix up the binding, trim a little wood from inside, and so on. The pictures tell the story.

The top crack is still a concern. How well can I clean out that glue will determine how well the crack will close. Unfortunately, if the glue on the X-brace is any indication this glue is old and very very resistant to moisture. I've tried various methods, with mixed results so far. The crack is still not free enough of the old glue to meet cleanly, so I'm reluctant to put any glue of my own in there.

The X-brace can be glued back in place soon, then the other loose top brace, but that open crack is holding things up.

Back to Work

Other projects and real life have a way of slowing down the important work I'm trying to do on guitars. Finally though, I'll be able to get back to the D-18. During the long break I pondered what the right order of the remaining steps should be. I finally decided that the proper order is to fix area 51 first, and then to glue the top braces back into place, and after that to install the bridge plate. It only makes sense. Fix the part that has the most issues first.

There will have to be a piece of spruce fabricated to fit into the lower bout where some is missing. Then the side split, which is missing a very narrow sliver of wood, will have to be filled with mahogony. Then a hole will have to be plugged with the original piece which I have. Once this piece is carefully fitted back into place, area 51 should be solid and ready to function again.

Then the top braces can be glued back down.

Lastly, the back will be re-gued to the rims.

See? It all makes sense now.

Area 51

Well, the rainy weekend was a nice time to listen to the rain hit the roof, but that's about all I accomplished. I did think about the guitar though, and I guess that's worth something.




This morning I took a few pictures of what I am calling "Area 51" due to the fact that it's a hornet's nest of unknowns. There is a long top crack which has been repaired, but I think the repair can be/should be improved upon. That means ungluing what has been done, cleaning it out, and re-gluing it. This will be a job.

There is another crack which needs to be closed up and glued.

There are a few small cracks which should close up easily, and may not even need cleats.

The huge fabric patch on the side covered a crack which is missing some wood. But before I can deal with that, the piece I do have must be put back in place.

The question is, in what order should I proceed?

I think maybe a "go-bar" deck could be the best method to flatten the top, fix the cracks, glue down the braces, and to insure things get back where they belong. Maybe this should come first.

Then the side chunk can go back in place.

Then the missing wood in the side can be replaced.

Part of the whole process will be the repair of and or the replacement of a few top braces. One small finger brace is missing completely. The other--one diagonal of the X--is broken. It'll need to be lengthened toward the damaged lower bout, and then glued back in place. However, this can't be done until the top is flat, crack-free and has the missing piece on the lower bout replaced.

It's a set of dominoes, and I have to determine in exactly which order I want the dominoes to fall before I set them up.

Thinking ahead

This weekend may be rainy and lousy for outdoor activities....so Mr. Martin may see some action. I would like to see some of those top cracks cleaned up and closed up. There is still a bit of glue removal to do on the one that has been "repaired" and I need to figure out how to clamp them successfully when the time comes. In other words I'll do some dry clamping run throughs this weekend, and try to figure out what will work.

Bridge Work

"The Chisel" really came through. Here are some before and after shots. The holes will be filled too. Somewhere I have a shot of the clamping process I'll add to this page.

Glue be gone

All in all, the guitar came a long way today. Most of the old glue and fabric patches are gone. It looks like the thinking of the old repair attempt was to use the patches only to stabilize the cracks, rather than to glue the crack back together first and then put in a fabric patch to hold things in place. As far as I can tell, there is very little, if any, glue to clean out from inside the cracks themselves. This is very good news. After a great deal of soaking and scraping with my fingernails, the inside of the top appears to be nearly glue-free. Here are a few before and after pictures--not quite the same view, but close.

Patch be gone

After soaking for a bit, the patch peels up in mostly one piece.

At the left is the patch at the beginning of the peel.

At the right, the patch is removed and sitting on the endblock.

Removal of old fabric patches

The first step is to soak the old fabric patch and get the glue to let go a bit. This was a huge patch covering a lot of undamaged area as well as the crack. It was a bit of overkill. I assume they were working through the soundhole and did the best they could. They managed to get the thing glued in place--I'll say that much.