Side cracks

There are a number of of side cracks, small ones, which need to be squeezed gently back together, then glued and clamped. I may have to put a few fabric patches on as well, to shore up the repair. I'll use hide glue of course.

With so many mini-projects on this guitar it may seem like I'm jumping around and not concentrating on one thing long enough, but...all in good time. Lots of the work is being done piecemeal, as I have time for it. One of the next posts should have a nice picture of the bridge, which my partner [The Chisel] is working on. He is doing a beautiful job...a real rescue in the works. It looks now like the old bridge will be able to be re-used.

Tools

Working on glue removal a bit this morning, it occurred to me that the good old fingernail is probably one of the best tools for this process. The patch needs to be completely soaked and the glue softened. At that point the patch is easier to peel away. Then, the fingernail can scrape away at some of the glue and the moisture will liquify it. Wipe away, and continue until the glue's gone and only the wood remains.

White glue blues

Today I worked on the top and sides for the first time really. And for the first time I see a bit more clearly what needs to be done. There were repairs done some time ago using white glue, which I need to un-glue and clean up. This job will present some difficulties, because to get those cracks sealed back up nicely, they must be free from all that old glue first. Not easy with white glue. I plan to move slowly and deliberately when I finally tackle this job, which is usually the best approach anyway.

I knew that one of the braces forming the X was broken and re-glued, but today I realized that the piece had been re-glued in the wrong place. This fact made me all the more determined to get it out of there, which I did. If I can successfully clean off all that old glue, I'll be able to put the piece back where it should be. I'll have to graft another piece of spruce onto the end of it to make it long enough. This should not present much of a problem; there is only an inch or so missing.

I was also able to remove the broken bridge plate today with no trouble. The cotton patches on the top and sides need a great deal of soaking to remove, and there will still be glue to clean up. Slowly...slowly...everything must be done very slowly...

More clampage

Well...new cracks have come to light, and the optimism of yesterday has met with the hard reality of today. Before I get that last brace in, before I put in the cool CFM stamp, before I call the back 'done,' I want to make sure I've gotten glue into every available crack crevice and cranny. Right now, the bottom portion which I started last night is still clamped, albiet in a slightly different spot. I'm working slowly, which is always a good thing. Every crack has to get closed. Then, and only then can I put that last brace in place. Tonight...? Maybe.

CF Martin Stamp

Today, I hope to finish regluing the braces to the back. It will be especially fun to re-install the backstrip portion you see when you look through the soundhole--the part with the CF Martin stamp. It's broken in half, but will go back in place very nicely. I was quite happy to find both pieces inside the guitar. All the stray parts should be glued in place on the back by this evening.

Back nearly done

The back braces needed very little scraping and cleaning. Wherever the guitar was stored in the past, it must have been very hot and dry. Once the braces gave away, the hide glue seems to have dried up as if it was in a kiln. There was very little to scrape and clean. At any rate, using hot hide glue again, three of the four back braces were glued back in place starting at the top. The back plate was then left overnight with one of the 'bashes' on the lower back glued and clamped flat.

Bonus

April Fools?!

I had collected all the small pieces of wood that were rattling around inside the guitar and kept them safe in a small baggie labeled "D-18" before I did anything else on the project. I'd assumed it was backstrip material only...

...today I realized that a rectangular piece from among the collection of miscellanea fit the hole in the back perfectly. Sweet.  I will glue that piece back in place soon.

It's kind of hard to believe that all these parts have managed to stay with the guitar even though they have come loose--the back strip is in several pieces, this odd little patch from the back, and so on. I'm surprised about the nice old individual Kluson tuners too. The fact that somewhere along the line someone didn't "harvest" them is pretty amazing. It's a bit like a kit guitar now, that has to be reassembled.

Checking it out

Tonight I'm going to take a look at the top braces; I'll try to loosen some of the old fabric patches, maybe the bridge plate, and try to get a feel for what's going on there.

More bridge work

Yesterday I dry clamped the bridge, just to see if it might be re-usable. It's pretty far gone, but at the very least, I'll glue it back together and then have a nice template to work from as I make a new one.

Interior back braces

The back braces were so loose that they required little more than a whisper to come free.

The top three braces should go back in place with no trouble. The bottom portion of the guitar has old repairs which need to be re-done. This will call for the removal of some old linen patches, careful cleaning of the area, and then careful clamping and gluing to align the cracks. After those problem areas are dealt with, I'll glue in the last brace.

Once I have the braces and back strip glued back in place, I will attempt to clean the back up a little bit, and make it less dingy. I don't want to do this before I glue the braces in place, because moisture could cause the back plate to curl. The surfaces that I glue will, of course, be scraped clean of any old glue residue.