Acoustic Guitar Construction

During removal of the tail block, I cracked the rim sides. What is best procedure to repair? I understand CA should be used. Should I clean up old glue first? Do I need to clamp or can I hold in place several minutes until CA sets. I saw a procedure by John Hall where the glue is removed first, crack is clamped, and CA is applied to the crack and allowed to wick into the crack. Just want to double check. For me, it's first time for everything....


Thanks,

Jay Lynch

Yes, remove all that glue. Otherwise when you re-glue you
won't have a solid joint.

Ohh Jay,
You can fix it. EIR responds to the CA glue well and in the end the cracks should not be detectable.
Carefully scrape the old glue off that held the block on, then go to work on the cracks. You can make a couple of cauls from 1/4" or 1/2" MDF or plywood and cover one surface with clear packaging tape. Clamp a caul with the tape side against the wood on either side of the crack and line things up. You don't have to clamp tight, just enough to hold the split pieces together where you want them. Then wick in your CA glue and let it dry, remover the cauls and wick in CA where they were. Don't worry about cleaning anything up except for the area you are going to re-install your end block. Make sure you have clean sanded wood and glue your end block in place. Later when that is done, you can go back and add more CA to the cracks if needed, and scrape flush. Try and keep the CA from running down on the inside of the sides. Later when you are putting in side bracing, place one or two over the fixed areas so they can't open up again.
There you have it.

Kevin

I would consider gluing the crack first so that you stabilize it and do not make it worse. As it just cracked it should be clean. I would find a way to clamp the cracked part of the sides together and not try to hold it by hand while gluing. Kevin's description about how to stabilize and glue sounds good to me.

Tape that so its not flopping around and gets worse! And fix it before you proceed.

Tightly tape it together cross grain so it matches. No tape on the very end one inch or so and place the tape one inch apart. Drip some CA on the open sections, let it dry or better spray with CA accelerator. Then remove the tape and add some glue in those spaces. A tight fit is important -- but even as a gap filler CA is invisible on Rosewood once scraped and sanded. This is an easy repair.

Ken, John, Mark, & Kevin - Thanks for all the replies. The accelerator is a great idea. It's on my ever-expanding shopping list.

Jay