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Ovation finish cracks
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Author:  Colin North [ Fri Sep 25, 2015 1:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Ovation finish cracks

Got a bass Ovation in with some cracks in the finish on the top (epoxy finish I believe?) as well as other issues. This is a fix up to sell, not a restoration, but I like to do things right.
I was thinking thin CA to fill the cracks, dressing and buffing after, but am concerned the cracks may go down to the spruce and would discolour it.
I could put a thin shellac down inside first to try to seal off the spruce to prevent this.
Any suggestions welcome!

Author:  Chris Pile [ Fri Sep 25, 2015 2:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation finish cracks

Take it from me - don't bother!
You'll just make it look worse.
My brother had one from the late 70's, and asked me to fix them.
I ended up doing a complete refin of the top.

Author:  David Collins [ Fri Sep 25, 2015 11:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation finish cracks

The best solution I've found for these is to saturate the top with a solvent like naphtha or white gas, then apply heat to the top, for which I find a match tends to work well. Do this outdoors with good ventilation, and in just a few minutes the cracks will be entirely gone.

Seriously though, I second Chris on this one. Big can of worms, low value instrument, increase in resale value will not match the cost of repair, and there's a lot of liability to loose far more than you could stand to gain if it doesn't go smoothly. In spite of those finishes often being thicker than the top itself, in some eras of production I swear they laid the color right on the top, leaving no room to sand level and buff without going through.

Author:  fumblefinger [ Sat Sep 26, 2015 12:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation finish cracks

FWIW, I drop filled an 1111-6 with the CA method and it worked fine. But the divots were obviously not completely through the finish. This is one of the first run of production gits from Ovation, and I'm betting the finish was pretty thick. Man I wish I had that one back. One of the loudest acoustics I've ever heard.

Author:  Colin North [ Sat Sep 26, 2015 2:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation finish cracks

David Collins wrote:
The best solution I've found for these is to saturate the top with a solvent like naphtha or white gas, then apply heat to the top, for which I find a match tends to work well. Do this outdoors with good ventilation, and in just a few minutes the cracks will be entirely gone.

Seriously though, I second Chris on this one. Big can of worms, low value instrument, increase in resale value will not match the cost of repair, and there's a lot of liability to loose far more than you could stand to gain if it doesn't go smoothly. In spite of those finishes often being thicker than the top itself, in some eras of production I swear they laid the color right on the top, leaving no room to sand level and buff without going through.

laughing6-hehe
Point taken.

Author:  B. Howard [ Sun Sep 27, 2015 7:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation finish cracks

The shellac would seal the wood but will also likely leave witness lines in the finish after leveling and buffing. I would use some polyester to repair something like that. You could also thin some clear epoxy with lacquer thinner and fill with that. The trouble is always in the level sanding. It is difficult to sand materials of different hardness perfectly level and if they are not perfectly level they will look like crap when buffed.

Author:  fumblefinger [ Mon Sep 28, 2015 3:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation finish cracks

B. Howard wrote:
You could also thin some clear epoxy with lacquer thinner and fill with that.


That's one to file away. I wasn't aware you could thin epoxy. Good to know!

Author:  Dave Baley [ Tue Nov 03, 2015 11:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Ovation finish cracks

There is, or was, a guy named Tony Calman that posted all the time on the Ovation fan club (Ovationfanclub dot Com) about filling these cracks since they are very common. He swears it works (Thin CA, etc). You can search and read some of his threads.
I tried it once on a friends Ovation and made things much worse. I think it is much harder if the finish is colored instead of clear and if there is dirt etc in the crack.
Anyway, if you want to try this, read Tony's instructions. They are the clearest around and he certainly did a lot of them.

Dave

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