Tossed my acoustic off a sailboat

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cobascis
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Post by cobascis »

Will wrote:Definitely don't break it off. And I'd steer clear of epoxy as well. With a clean crack you won't need gap-filling, and, should it re-break, you don't want too much glue residue in the break as that impedes future repair.

The bar-none best, and possibly easiest, way to do this would be to use hot Hide Glue. You can mix it near water-thin because of the heat and let it flow deep into the crack. It also won't damage the finish like epoxy, and runout can be cleaned with a hot, damp rag.
A good woodworking shop should have hide glue powder. You'll dissolve it in water and heat it with a double pan (like melting chocolate).

Here's a good article:
http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/pro ... 4_hideglue
Excellent, ordered some hide glue.
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George
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Post by George »

Mages wrote:it should be even stronger than it was before you broke it when you are done.
this made me chuckle because it was clearly not very strong to begin with
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DGNR8
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Post by DGNR8 »

Look at the break though. Interesting that it split in the wood, not on the nearby glue seam.

The advantage of hide glue is that it is removable. I am not sure which glue I would use. I agree that there are merits to hide and wood glue for different uses. I would have been tempted to use hot (thin) superglue that soaks in and bonds, but you would not have much room for error. Someone mis-glued the headstock split on my Rickenbacker and there's no easy way to fix it.

By using hide glue you will have plenty of time to get it into position and clamp it. If you don't have clamps you can use rubber straps or even nylon rope.
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cobascis
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Post by cobascis »

DGNR8 wrote:Look at the break though. Interesting that it split in the wood, not on the nearby glue seam.

The advantage of hide glue is that it is removable. I am not sure which glue I would use. I agree that there are merits to hide and wood glue for different uses. I would have been tempted to use hot (thin) superglue that soaks in and bonds, but you would not have much room for error. Someone mis-glued the headstock split on my Rickenbacker and there's no easy way to fix it.

By using hide glue you will have plenty of time to get it into position and clamp it. If you don't have clamps you can use rubber straps or even nylon rope.
It's still solid -- like I tuned it up before I realize it was broken, so I don't really have to put anything in place, it'll come together right as I clamp it. I hope. I can close it all the way with just my hand and it meshes perfectly.
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cobascis
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Post by cobascis »

Fixed.

Put equal weights of hide glue and water into a pot and heated it up. The glue became too viscous to penetrate the crack (haha..) so I added water. Clamped it, waited 24 hours, took the clamp off, waited 24 hours, restrung it and it plays as poorly as before!
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Will
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Post by Will »

Great success!