An F2 repair

[jim simpson]

I've really enjoyed the photos of this repair, certainly not for the faint of heart. I've often wondered if one could cut a clean scarf joint angle and add a section in place of the cracked area, essentially ending up with 2 scarf joints. I realize this would mean removing the truss rod and redrilling the added wood section. It just seems to me that the joints would be clean and strong. Any thoughts?

[sunburst]

Why "scarf" in a piece? The front and back veneers would need to be removed, the joints would have to be clamped with some sort of jig to maintain alignment, the veneers replaced and the whole mess refinished. Easier to scarf on a new peghead and have only one joint. Easier still to just glue it back together.

[Skip Kelley]

John, That is an amazing repair! Thanks for sharing the photos!

[Bill Moore]

I soaked some maple veneers in strong tea and then in vinegar and steel wool to "ebonize" them ...:

Hey John,

Could elaborate on this procedure? I understand soaking maple in strong tea would give maple an aged look, but what does the vinegar and steel wool solution do? Make them black? Just curious as I'd never heard of this.

Thanks,
Bill

[sunburst]

The acetic acid in vinegar dissolves the steel wool and you get a solution that will react with tannins in wood to turn it black, or nearly black. Maple doesn't have much tannin content, so the strong tea soak was to introduce more tannins to the wood.
The resulting color is nearly identical to the dark gray/green color of the old Gibson overlays and neck center strips that were "ebonized" somehow.

[woodwizard]

Awesome work sunburst!

[Bill Moore]

Thanks for the explanation, John! That is very interesting. So, how much vinegar & steel wool is required? What's the ratio, like 1 to 1 or does it matter? Also, does it matter if the steel wool has any oil? I know some do and some don't.

Thanks,
Bill

[sunburst]

I can't really answer any of those questions. It's like a lot of things, I just grabbed some half-worn-out steel wool and put it in a plastic container with the wood then poured in enough vinegar to cover it all up. Sometime over-thinking things just doesn't occur to me!