40 year old wood separating, what do?
- Blomberg
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40 year old wood separating, what do?
Stripped Musicmaster body starting to come apart at the seams.
There doesn't appear to be any finish other than the stain-job, but I could be wrong. Certainly no lacquer.
Might have been oiled once upon a time, I suppose.
How do I best go about mending these cracks? Just fill them up with wood glue? Or some brown wood filler?
I'd like to preserve the natural finish, it has some nice patina/mojo to it, so I'm not going to just fill it and paint over it.
But it's obviously pretty dry from being without finish for however many years.
If I oil it up (regular oil, not hardening/Tru oil), logic tells me it'll swell up a bit with the moisture and maybe lessen the width of the cracks?
But then it'll be oily and harder to glue/fill?
Halp!
There doesn't appear to be any finish other than the stain-job, but I could be wrong. Certainly no lacquer.
Might have been oiled once upon a time, I suppose.
How do I best go about mending these cracks? Just fill them up with wood glue? Or some brown wood filler?
I'd like to preserve the natural finish, it has some nice patina/mojo to it, so I'm not going to just fill it and paint over it.
But it's obviously pretty dry from being without finish for however many years.
If I oil it up (regular oil, not hardening/Tru oil), logic tells me it'll swell up a bit with the moisture and maybe lessen the width of the cracks?
But then it'll be oily and harder to glue/fill?
Halp!
- Danley
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Re: 40 year old wood separating, what do?
Following - I have a Mustang body with similar (less severe) separations and have been recommended to leave it as-is since it’s stable. But it bugs.
Seems not uncommon for ‘Student’ models.
Seems not uncommon for ‘Student’ models.
King Buzzo: I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!
- Blomberg
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Re: 40 year old wood separating, what do?
Well, if it's just cosmetic, I'll probably fill it with some brown dyed filler. The body has a few screw holes from a Bigsby I'll need to fill anyway.
My worry is that it's an ongoing problem that'll get worse with time, but I'm not sure how to check for that?
- andy_tchp
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Re: 40 year old wood separating, what do?
Leave it as is, and definitely don't apply any kind of 'oil'.
If it gets worse (it won't ) you can look at wicking in some wood glue and finding a way of applying clamping pressure with, well, clamps.
If it gets worse (it won't ) you can look at wicking in some wood glue and finding a way of applying clamping pressure with, well, clamps.
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
David McComb, 1987.
David McComb, 1987.
- fuzzking
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Re: 40 year old wood separating, what do?
ahhh jessas, this forum ain't what it used to be.
1.) get wood glue,
2.) fill the gap with wood glue
3.) clamp that shit and let it dry.
1.) get wood glue,
2.) fill the gap with wood glue
3.) clamp that shit and let it dry.
Nobody exists on purpose.
- Blomberg
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Re: 40 year old wood separating, what do?
There's nothing to really clamp, though.
The seam seems good along 97% of the length, but the end wood has shrunk, leaving a gap.
I ended up just filling it with some brown putty, and I'll get some finish on the body eventually.
- HNB
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Re: 40 year old wood separating, what do?
I had that with a mustang. I taped it off to keep the wood glue from dripping out and filled it up with wood glue. Worked fine.
20190309_104420 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20190309_104420 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
Christopher
Lilith Guitars
Lilith Guitars
- jvin248
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Re: 40 year old wood separating, what do?
.
In similar cracks I have used 'Thin' CA adhesive -- which I have seen wick up a crack twelve inches. Then clamp and let sit overnight, I don't use an accelerator.
Wood glue, even when thinned, does not wick that far. If you break the crack you'll find penetration is very shallow.
.
In similar cracks I have used 'Thin' CA adhesive -- which I have seen wick up a crack twelve inches. Then clamp and let sit overnight, I don't use an accelerator.
Wood glue, even when thinned, does not wick that far. If you break the crack you'll find penetration is very shallow.
.
- antisymmetric
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Re: 40 year old wood separating, what do?
^^^Another CA vote here, I've even used it an old neck that was beginning to separate along its centre joint. Masked everything off and used a pipette to get the thin CA in. It worked well, the neck has since been lacquered and strung up, and you'd never know there'd been an issue.
Watching the corners turn corners