Official Luthiers Forum!

This is a first,

I was carving a neck and a small worm hole appeared. I don't know how the guy got in there, (I musta missed the entry point when I laminated the neck. What a bummer. This neck is a slot head with bound headstock and fingerboard with bazilian and snakewood. It is really nice except this hole. (Actually there are 2 holes, he must made a turn.) This neck is going to go on a brazilian guitar so staining (or coloring) the neck was going to happen. I really don't want to scrap this neck. ( I know the "client" won't mind a tiny blem, but it bugs me)

Any hints on how to cover up these holes that won't show up (much.) Actually they are little troughs as the worm ran kinda along the neck. I have filled worm holes before and had some success, but with mahogany I tend to get the tell-tale sign of the fill as there always is a dark line surrounding the fill.

(Come to think of it, I may have used bondo once with decent results) I will have to try some experiments.

Any ideas???johno38510.0101851852

You could go the OTHER way and inlay a little worm into the neck and use it as a design detail.... but with a high dollar guitar like that perhaps whimsical won't work.

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

I thought about an inlay but I am not sure there is really a good look to go with this, especially since there are now two holes!johno38510.0110532407

Hide glue?

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

I've used hide glue + sawdust before with pretty good results. Doesn't leave the dark outline that CA does.

_________________
Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

I'm doing a 00 in Brazilian and the sides each have a worm hole in the lower bout. It's dark enough in that spot that I'm hoping to just fill it with rosewood dust and epoxy.

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

John, I was sanding a heel once on my 12" disk sander, i inadvertently caught the edge of the neck shaft,right were the fretboard meets the mahogany with the edge of the sander, it took a chunk about 1/4" deep out if it, Also a slot head, bound and fully inlaid. SO! I found a matching piece of mahogany, and on the neck, sliced out a 1/2moon shaped chunk, removing the gouge, and then with the new piece of maho, I cut a splice, CA'd in place, sanded it smooth and I swear, I have to really look hard to see it. SO I would maybe consider, cutting out a thin area around the hole and splice in a new piece.

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

John, Make a new neck for this guitar. Do the best job of filling the hole as you can and put the neck on one of your "budget" models or offer to put it on a guitar where the customer is really strecthing their finances to get an Osthoff.

If you are staining it anyway, you might try some stainable wood filler in those areas. If it doesn't work well enough, you can make a new neck at that point.

i agree with mike; a set of brazilian merits a neck free of holes, even if the brazilian itself is riddled. the client might not mind, but you should. you will find a use for the neck, even if it's to show a potential client what you reject as inferior.

I have had some luck doing what Lance has done. Sometimes when I fill a hole I will make a round dowel, sharpen it (in a pencil sharpener), stick it in the hole and flush cut it. Then I glue in the plug. If you are careful to make the piece from a cutoff of the same material and orient the grain properly you might get it to be virtually invisible.

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

Brock, and others, I would shy away from the "roundness" of a dowell. I just finished a neck last week for a Healdsburg guitar that had this fix in it. The grain was absolutely perfect. But when I wet it with Naptha, you could see the round glue line as well as if it were flourescent pink. I think if you made the patch less uniform, the edges would blend better.

Here is the neck:






As you can see there is a little bit of work in this neck.

Here are the holes



BUMMER

John, I would still opt to splice in a piece, then maybe you could darken the mahogany with a stain or something to darken it up a bit and hide the splicing?
I think you might be suprised at how well you can hide a splice in mahogany, try it on some scrap.

_________________
Support the OLF! Bookmark our STEWMAC link Today!
Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Do the cut offs have the holes in them too? Maybe hit them with some Potassium Dichomate as a test and see how they look. I bet they might look ok (i.e. not as noticable) if you darken the mahogany....

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

are those waverley's?

if so i didn't know the three on a plate were available with ebony buttons.

I would be trying to save the neck. If the customer is demanding a new neck then I would say you have to do it, but if not I would try and save it.

Michael

3-on-plate Waverley's are now availible with ebony, snakewood or ivroid buttons.

josh

_________________
Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

It's your decision about whether this is worth scrapping the neck, but I'd
probably opt to talk with the client before making a decision.

I exposed a similar worm hole a couple of years ago, reamed it out a little
to get rid of the discolored wood on the margins of the hole, and filled
with epoxy-and-sawdust. I thought it was almost unnoticeable, but the
customer saw it immediately -- and started laughing! He loved the fact
that the neck had this, ahem, feature. Others wouldn't be so amused, I
suspect.

I'm no expert but I think Rick is right about the dark area around the perimeter of the worm holes (oxidation,worm guck?). If you don't clear it out it will show up under the finish. I've had good luck by very carefully clearing out the guck and fitting in a tiny matching piece of mahogany and filling any gaps with clear epoxy. If you are staining the neck however I think all bets are off, as I think the stain will be absorbed differently and actually make the repair stand out more.

John,
I think you should just scrap the neck and send it to me, I'm sure I can find something to do with it All kidding aside, I would love this neck even with the holes. But before I did anything, I was ask the customer how much "natural beauty" he/she enjoys. Then explain the situation and the options that you are thinking:
1. scrap the neck and start over
2. try to fill the holes best you can and live the results.
3. try to fill the holes and if it doesn't turn out good, then build a new neck.
Good luck!
Tracy

I grafted a couple of pieces of mahogany in there tonight. It is ok. Certainly can see em. My client does not mind the blems, but I was planing to show this guitar a little bit as it is a new model for me....

I should clearify on the staining ... I will be tinting the neck after there is lacquer on there.

I will try it out and see how it looks with the tint.

Thanks for the help/advice.

PS those are snakewood buttons on the waverlies.

JOjohno38510.9603703704

Maybe it's time for "burst".