Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi All,

I just joined this forum today and I have a question about a top I'm working on.

After taking some time off from building ( a couple of years) a few weeks ago I started work on my third acoustic guitar...a classical guitar based on the 1937 Hauser plans. I own a copy of Robert O'Brian's DVD, David Schramm's CD, and I have the Cumpiano and the Courtnall books as well, and between them all I'm hoping to find enough good techniques to get me through it.

What just happened is this: I joined the top plates using the LMI white glue. The top is not thicknessed yet. Not being able to keep myself from touching this nice piece of Italian spruce I decided to get my scraper and clean up the glue squeeze out from the center seam on what I wanted to use as the top surface.  On one pass I noticed a few pieces of dried glue had pulled up some spruce along with them, about 1/32" deep and a little less than 1/8" wide (roughly 1mm x 2mm), right in the area that will be below the sound hole.

The top is currently the thickness I received it - about 4.7mm. What would be the best way to proceed at this point? Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Thickness the top down to the tearout (drum sander, it's on my to-build list or I could find one for hire in a lumber yard), then inlay the rosette, level it, and then lightly sand the underside to clean the glue squeeze out - and hope I have enough thickness left.
2. Inlay the rosette 1mm below the surface (the level of the tearout), sand the top down to the rosette, and take the remaining thickness from the inside surface of the top.
3. place the surface with the tearout on the inside of the guitar
4. Cut the top apart and re-join the halves (I bought a jumbo top so I have a bit of extra wood.

I'd rather not cut the board apart or use the other side as the face, but if that's the best option based on the advice of experienced builders then I'll do it.

Sorry if this was a bit long-winded, but I wanted to try to be clear and also find a way to save the top from further harm.

Thanks!

-Mike Manuele

 

Step #2 should be fine. I do that for all my guitars...inlay the rosette, sand down to it, flip over and do final sanding to thickness (on a wide belt sander, fortunately).
If the tearouts are too deep then it's probably best to split the top, reglue, then proceed with Step #2. That will keep you with the "money side" as the finished face and you chalk the entire event up to experience gained.

_________________
Hank Mauel

Welcome to OLF Mike!  Glad you came aboard.  Keep us up on your progress.

I'm too new at this process to help, but good luck, and Im sure you'll get some other pointers on how to deal with the problem.  Not that Hank's advice isn't perfect, but I've been hanging around here long enough to know that there is more than one way to "skin a cat" so to speak.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I agree with hank ! # 2
But the important thing is you learned a valueable lesson!

Let the glue dry before -scraping-planning-sanding-etc!

If the top is 4.7 mm you have alot of room for this small mishap!
mike
www.collinsguitars.com

_________________
Mike Collins

Depending on how much top you have to work with and how close to the join center your tearout is, I would also consider re-joining the halves. (#4)
Be sure to cut your joint so it fallows the grain as close as possable. maybe you already know that but I was wondering why you got the tear in the first place..
I'd feel better knowing you have a solid center joint.
#2 works too but just giving food for thought.
Good luck,

Wade

_________________
Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com

[QUOTE=Wade S.] ...but I was wondering why you got the tear in the first place..
I'd feel better knowing you have a solid center joint.
#2 works too but just giving food for thought.
Good luck,

Wade[/QUOTE]

I got too aggressive with a scraper that wasn't sharp enough  and I yanked up some spots of glue rather than shaving them off. It all happened in one stroke, fortunately I noticed it immediately and stopped. 

At any rate, after carefully measuring last night, the tearout is 1mm at most which should leave me with more than enough material to remove from the top and then continue thicknessing from the back side. The joint itself is perfect, no light can be seen through it at all, and since I have two pitch pockets just outside of the widest parts of the lower bout I'd rather not risk cutting and re-joining if I don't have to.

Thanks for the input everyone, definitely a lesson learned and I'll update on how it turns out once I make my rosette and get it inlaid.