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In case you purged it from your memory...here was the damage...



After receiving the materials and detailed instructions from David Collins, here are some of the progress pics. I apologize in advance for the poor shots. Unfortunately, I was unable to get an internal pic of back brace #4 which was split about 1/3 of its length.

The following shows the materials that David sent and the pump that I built to get the FG through the syringe and the butterfly set and into the interior of the box. It also shows the clamping scheme following the FG application and setting and aligning the cracks as tightly as possible. I let it sit for 24 hours before removing the clamps.




The next pic shows the box after unclamping and after sanding and applying a thin coat of ZP. Even though it's hard to detect in the pic, I can still see evidence of the cracks if I look real close. I may be able to further reduce the evidence and make it disappear with judicious sanding and ZP filling.



Here's another angle (the cracks are on the treble side):



Internally, the repaired brace crack is invisible. The glue cleaned up nicely with a damp sponge followed by drying with a hair dryer. There is no evidence of glue on the brace nor the surroundings.

There were several hairline cracks that I used CA to repair. Internally, there is some slight discoloration but I used it sparingly and it didn't get a chance to flow beyond the crack.

In all, I'm pleased with the results and want to thank David for his generosity in providing the materials and instructions. Ok, so now I did a repair but that's enough for one lifetime!

This was a great and revealing experience in using FG for the first time. I plan to use it for tops and backs next time around. I find it just as hard as HHG when cured but the extended working time is a real pleasure! I'll continue to use HHG on braces and such since I actually prefer the shorter setup time for those operations.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Wow, nice to see it turned out so well! I don't know what you can see under
a jewelers loupe, but from the photos I can't see any sign of damage at all.
I'd guess that after all the finish work you will even have a hard time finding
where it was.

Nice work!

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Congrats on a very fine job JJ, ONE MORE TRICK UP YOUR SLEEVE BRO!

JJ, great work! You should be quite proud of this one. As you know by now, it's often more difficult to make a quality repair than it is to just build the box. And you've done a really nice repair. Fine work my friend!

JJ, that is fantastic! Great news indeed...

I'll echo Hesh, man, that Zoot is really crazy! I hope I get to fondle her someday!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

JJ, that turned out great. Like everyone else said, we can't see anything in the photos. It looks perfect. I'm sorry it happened, but thank you for sharing. I have saved these threads in hopes that I never need them. I am another who is going to order some fish glue.

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Aoibeann

Very Nice repair. Great Job

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Fantastic JJ ! I could hardly see any evidence of the crack in the photo.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Great repair JJ. I guess I can save that back set for myself.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Well Done JJ, great save

Cheers

Kim

JJ -- nicely done and indeed a great save!

Isn't it great to learn that this can be done well. Hope I never need to do this repair, but your work is inspiring, J.J.

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Glad to see that you were able to make what almost seemed to be the impossible, JJ.
You da man.
Coe

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Thanks for the kind words...I'm relieved to say the least. It's not perfect but I just may be able to save this one!

I've taken a few more pics in different lighting and angles but I can't get it to show...I guess that's a good thing. I'm sure that you'd pick it out in person, which means that I just better get the sound to outweigh its appearance!

One disturbing consequence I noticed is that it's not as domed on the lower bout of the treble side...almost like it flattened out a bit. Just wondering what the long term effects might be...any thoughts or opinions?

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

jj, you should be very pleased; i can't see the repair either.

i'm very taken with the sringe holder/presser gizmo. it sure beats using old er ah i mean old fashioned, muscle power i've been using all these years. i've got to make one of those pronto.

Michael...The glue pump was David's idea and I just cobbled my version up with spare parts and scrap. The glue sort of wept out of the tiny orifice and was easy to slowly feed into the gaps in a very controlled fashion.

Even though it worked well, quite frankly, I hope I never have to use it again!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

then don't start doing repair work!!!!!

Todd...I'll take some closer pics of the pump tomorrow, give you some specifics on the butterfly set and describe how I used it.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Great job JJ, I knew you could do it!!!

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Todd...Here's a better look at the pump.



I captured the syringe barrel between the block and a piece of masonite and guided the piston through another block. The piston is driven by a 1/4" hex head bolt that passes through a threaded tee nut. It's all bolted together...wing nuts at the top would make assembly and disassembly simpler.

If I were using this on a regular basis, I would make a cutout in the block so that the barrel could be loaded from the side thereby eliminating the need to disassemble each time you need to load it up with glue.

I got the syringe and butterfly set from David but I'm sure you could get these components from a medical supply house. The syringe has a 3 ml capacity and the butterfly set has about a 23 gauge needle or smaller. Both components have Luer-Lock connections and handled the pressure without leaking. The works containing FG cleaned up nicely in hot water afterwards...ready to go next time it's needed.

The surprising thing was to be able to precisely control the amount of glue passing slowly through the needle. I used a helper to hold the pump and pressurize when needed. I had enough to do just holding the butterfly in place and getting the needle positioned where needed.

I hope this helps and also hope that you never have to use it!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Here's the other glue syringe post.

TID=9454&PN=3#%23136145">Glue Syringe

I usually lay a big piece of leather on top of the guitar so I can lay the
syringe on that while applying glue. I use it so often that I pretty much
always keep it filled.


edit - sorry I can't make the link work. The forum software and my
computer have disagreements whenever an html command is long
enough to wrap around to the next line as I type. The only way I can post
a picture is if I keep the name under 6 or 7 characters. Longer than that
and it wraps to the next line and something goes wrong. Anyway, here's
my new syringe setup...


David Collins39079.4529861111

_________________
Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

is that a mini quik grip or a standard?

Do you ever have to clean these pumps? Does the glue dry in the ends? If so, how do you clean them?

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com