I put in a bit of time on my #yamakiGuitarRepair project today, mostly cuz I was unable to raise the enthusiasm to do the things I should probably be doing.
Doing on tedious top-crack fixes and colouring repairs. It's mostly about learning techniques, both what works and what doesn't. Got a good selection of the former so far.
When I work on a next $15 thrift guitar I'll try fewer dead-end approaches out of my toolbox.
Some guitar rehab effort. Thought I'd finished glue repairs but did tapping tests, checking resonance I could hear a rattle. Found another loose rib that needs glueing. Ugh.
It's very deep in the body and so my morning has been spent rigging up a clamping jig on a deep reach clamp, with a cantilevered addition.
Also getting light and endoscope cam in place where they won't interfere with my hand access. Now getting glue in and managing working time.
With my old phone's battery replaced, I'm able to employ it to get an endoscope camera inside my thrift-store guitar for the complex glue task I'd been putting off.
Kind of a laparoscopic surgery process. I managed to get PVA glue into the split strut and verified there is squeeze-out upon clamping. Whew.
A bit of waiting and there's one more of those to solve yet.
Back to my guitar work - did a bit more effort on the back too. Here's the before-and-after pair.
I think it can still be better. Will return to it after the top stabilizes.
A little time on my $15 thrift shop guitar repairs today. I've been experimenting with finish repairs for the top dents, gouges and splits, and seem to have something that works pretty well… after lots of tests.
It's time intensive, with lots of steps, and building of layers, but it seems to preserve the wood tone and I'm hopeful the damaged areas will be subdued quite well.
Ouch - got a sliver in my finger from my guitar. Not a thing that should happen. lol
A bit more gluing required – maybe one more round? I can see the transition to wood sealing and colour-matching work on the horizon.
Clamps keeping a convoluted gluing situation stable with limited visibility. One can fiddle with the bits perpetually, but as the working time of the glue times out it's best to stop and walk away.
If you think acrobatic Olympic ski events get your heart beating, you should try gluing up a guitar brace, within the 3min working time, deep inside a guitar body where you can't see.
Is this a warm up the glue-pot morning? I think it is.
One of the tougher glue-ups to tackle today. Some of the inner bracing and related pieces where it's hard to reach and see.
A few dry runs and jigs required.
"Festooned" with clamps, best describes this glueing situation.
Ross of Ottawa