Official Luthiers Forum!

I built this one last year and the customer is hoping I can fix it. EEEK!! The top also has 2 small cracks along the lining.

It happened while inside this case. A big guy fell on it.

It is repairable. You need some patience , lots of CA a good probe and some imagination. I bought an HD28 off Ebay last year that was crushed. That had a pair of top cracks at eash bout and the neck block sprung , this sheared the top along the neck line. The crushed side and cross crack at the tail block made it look like a lost piece.
With "golf club" spreaders you can gently open the space and work the smaller pieces into place. Use HHG or CA that is very thin. Then use wide tape to clamp. Lots of work but you can learn by doing.
john hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized Martin Repair Center

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

How to handle it? Carefully, one step at a time, with a game plan for the whole job before beginning it. I don't know how much more anyone can tell you without having it on their workbench and poking at it. It can be really amazing how well instruments split up from a mechanical injury can be made to fit back together. I don't see a big role for tape as a clamp, except for the binding. But some thin, flexible acrylic cauls will be handy for keeping surfaces flat when gluing (which is also a reason to be careful about using CA glue--you need time to align the pieces when clamping; hide glue is also problematic where you need clamp time). PVA, thinned a little bit, is the glue of choice for a lot of this kind of work. Or fish glue.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

It looks like a good challenge. A look an Frank Ford excellent frets.com site may give you ideas on how to approach the repairs.

_________________
Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

One other tip: If you don't know how to use "tuner" clamps, this is a good time to learn. These use a guitar string to pull in a patch behind a crack.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.