Amateur Acoustic Guitar Repair

hyperfish

Had another couple of hours today.

Starting with the front veneered filler. Cut to length.


Clamped it to the body and drew around the edge.


Clamped to the worktop and cut out the rough shape before my wife got home and caught me.


Not there yet.


Sand, check the fit, repeat many times and that's about as close as I can get with sandpaper. Still needs tweaking with 400 wet n dry. Really concious of damaging the filler at this stage.


The test fit shows that I need sand the back of the filler down to make it thinner.


Now to the filler for the back. With these words ringing in my ears.....
...I realised that I had glued the veneer onto the backing upside down and it doesn't match up.


The cockup did allow me to check the quality of the glue bond though. Good enough.


So, I backed up a few steps and made another filler, double checking the orientation this time.

gkf9

Looking good, can't wait to see it finished

hyperfish

Just made the filler for the back, more of the same.

Sanding, sanding, sanding.


Test the fit.


Glue and clamp. I only have one clamp so I'll glue the front filler after a few hours.

hyperfish

Some of the loose finish came off when I removed the clamp. Better for this to happen now rather than later.


Lightly levelled the CA glue from the crack areas.


Decided to scrape off the crap from the fretboard that had been making me gip.


All gone. Quite dry but not worth oiling it just yet.

KungFuPro

You're putting some work into this one, from the loose bits the finish/colour looks to be sitting on top of the wood, could still get away with that dragonburst finish. Now knowing it's a quality instrument that would be like taking a Bentley and letting a footballer choose the finish.

hyperfish

LOL. Yeah, still a long way to go yet. My wife is shocked at the state it is now in. It should start to get better from here though.

KungFuPro

Sounds like my missus when I'm diying, 'yes love, that water fountain in the kitchen is a new feature!'.

Got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette and all that, looks like you're making progress.

Axl

That fretboard was gopping*.  Nice work so far Hyper.


*technical expression.

hyperfish

Went to the guitar show in Birmingham last week so nothing more done until today.
It was all about sanding today, about 3 hours worth. I wish I had that mouse sander that I keep promising myself.
400 grit wet and dry, though I quickly decided not to wet the paper as it could affect the untreated wood.


Kept going until the CA glue on the original finish had gone and the joint at the new filler was undetectable to the touch. There will be a bit more fine sanding when I fit the binding.


Next step was to dull of the whole top with the 400 grit.


Same steps for the back although it needs some more CA glue in places to fill some low spots.


Dulled the original finish on the front, back and sides ready to accept a finish. Once again the dust created shows a few dents that need filling. Smoothed the corners of the binding as there were sharp places all around the front and back.


This is where I'm at after a quick wipe down with a damp cloth.

hyperfish

More of the same.
I could see that I needed to do a better job of the dulling down. Too many scratches and untouched shiny spots showing.


Levelled the bits that I needed to drop fill yesterday.


The dust collecting in these grooves means I'll need to drop fill this section.


Dealt with the dent on the bottom near the strap button.


Removed the wobbly tuners and employed the toothpick trick for the enlarged screw holes.


After a quick risk assessment I cleaned the guitar from top to tail.


I need to think about paint now. I'm probably going to keep with the original vintage style and go with dark brown and amber acrylic.