broken plate

Costs are rising and times are tough.
Please consider a donation to keep this
place going.

Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.

We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.

broken plate

You are logged in as Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >>Discussions >>Lutherie >>

Page: [1]

Message

<< Newer Topic Older Topic >>

Stu

Posts: 2522
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

broken plate

I'm realllllly slowly trying to build a second guitar. a while back I glued the plates of the soundboard successfully. Then it got left for ages. I then moved house and it got damaged. it basically split down the grain about 50 mill from the original glued join.

question is. Can i just glue that clean split and join? or should I plane them clean like i would when joining them normally? or should I just ditch and start again with new plates?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2020 10:20:32

RobF

Posts: 1611
Joined: Aug. 24 2017

RE: broken plate (in reply to Stu)

I’d be inclined to separate the top, plane the plates clean, and rejoin. It might be a good idea to give the separated plates a flex and a few good taps to see if whatever caused the crack also caused any other cracks that aren't as readily apparent. The taps will often make a buzzing sound if there’s a crack present.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2020 11:12:51

El Burdo

Posts: 632
Joined: Sep. 8 2011

[Deleted]

Post has been moved to the Recycle Bin at Dec. 22 2022 15:32:32

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2020 12:08:29

El Burdo

Posts: 632
Joined: Sep. 8 2011

[Deleted]

Post has been moved to the Recycle Bin at Dec. 22 2022 15:32:50

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2020 12:11:14

Tom Blackshear

Posts: 2304
Joined: Apr. 15 2008

RE: broken plate (in reply to Stu)

If you have a large enough top plate then trim it off and glue the top together again. If you are a little concerned about gluing, then contact a guitar maker to help you through the process.

_____________________________

Tom Blackshear Guitar maker

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2020 13:48:52

RobF

Posts: 1611
Joined: Aug. 24 2017

RE: broken plate (in reply to El Burdo)

quote:

If that means start from scratch with a smaller plate

That’s what I meant. If the crack is only 1.25mm (50 mil) from the join, then separate and plane both plates to create a new bookmatch and then rejoin.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2020 14:43:48

Andy Culpepper

Posts: 3023
Joined: Mar. 30 2009
From: NY, USA

RE: broken plate (in reply to Stu)

In *theory* you should be able to just reglue it along the split. But in practice, especially if any significant amount of time has passed, there is quite likely to be something like stray wood fibers, dirt, other damage, or just wood moving and changing that make that not practical. I would go with RobF and Tom's advice.

_____________________________

Andy Culpepper, luthier
http://www.andyculpepper.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2020 14:47:57

Stephen Eden

Posts: 914
Joined: Apr. 12 2008
From: UK

RE: broken plate (in reply to Stu)

If I were you I'd probably just start again. You'd feel better about it in the end anyway.

_____________________________

Classical and Flamenco Guitars www.EdenGuitars.co.uk

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 19 2020 19:01:52

Stu

Posts: 2522
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: broken plate (in reply to Stephen Eden)

Thanks for the full gamut of options in your replies! ahah.

the break is about halfway between one of the sides so a reasonable distance from the original book matched join.

Yeah Andy I feel a fair amount of time may have passed so could be something in your reply.

I would start from scratch but in lockdown with no job or money coming in... ordering wood isn't really cool with the mrs..unless its the only option.

think ill check out the top tomorrow and see what state its in.

Cheers fellas

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 21 2020 21:01:24

RobF

Posts: 1611
Joined: Aug. 24 2017

RE: broken plate (in reply to Stu)

Ahhh. I interpreted 50 mil to mean 0.050” or ~1.25mm.

Maybe post a picture of the top? It might not be so bad, and if this is a lockdown project then there’s no harm in trying to salvage it. There will be plenty of opportunity for obtaining pristine tops (for other guitars) down the road, and working on a new guitar now might do wonders for the spirits.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 21 2020 21:38:28

Stu

Posts: 2522
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: broken plate (in reply to RobF)

will post a pic asap.

Its actually split in four!!! haha

the bookmatch join I glued!! (why would that happen?...been stored in gargage)
and both those seperate plates are split clean down the grain! urgg

Im gonna glue it back up after prep and see how it is. might use for practice top or something

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Apr. 30 2020 20:55:43

RobF

Posts: 1611
Joined: Aug. 24 2017

RE: broken plate (in reply to Stu)

Lol. Even if you decide to scrap the top, it doesn’t have to go in the bin. The wood can be used for bridge and soundhole patches and the like. Often when I buy tops I’ll ask for some orphan slices for that purpose. The rosette can be salvaged, too.

I have a “Box of Shame” containing a few heads sawed off from their necks and a heel that went bad, but the rest of the necks got repurposed as back braces and the reinforcing rods salvaged and reused. So, in guitar making, all is never truly lost. Thankfully, the box isn’t that big, either, lol.