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Thread: Don't do this!

  1. #26
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    Have you got one of those .22 concrete nail guns?
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    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  2. #27
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    I can see this thread getting really scary, maybe it's just the thing for Halloween!
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

  3. #28
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    When I did that repair Gorilla Glue was a pretty new product and people didn't know a lot about it other than the advertising hype. "Toughest glue on Planet Earth" I think was the motto. That's why the luthier recommended it as a last resort I'm sure, not based on any scientific study which probably didn't even exist then. The repair was stable for several years and still holding when I retired.
    Don

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  4. #29

    Default Re: Don't do this!

    If your going to use a Ramset your not going to want to use anything above the green loads.

  5. #30
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    John, I am wondering if you scraped the polyurethane glue off and then used some kind of solvent with a stiff ? given the 'expanding' nature of the glue and propensity to work itself into the grain, how does one go about getting a clean glue surface?

  6. #31
    mandolin slinger Steve Ostrander's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    That definitely looks like Gorilla glue. What a mess. As Mike did, I used it to repair our (recent) dining room chairs when Titebond failed. That stuff has not let go, but it was a mess cleaning up the yellow foam seeping out of the joints.
    Living’ in the Mitten

  7. #32
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    Tdnate, I'm not having any real trouble getting the glue off, chisels, knives and scrapers have no problem with the dried residue. As I said earlier, I was hoping the worst of the job was behind after getting the thing apart, but now I'm faced with a cracked and previously modified head block and an inadequate dovetail tenon on the neck, all in a mandolin with a market value that doesn't justify a very expensive repair. I'm in contemplation mode now, and I expect I'll soon contact the owner to discuss what approach to take from here.

  8. #33

    Default Re: Don't do this!

    I was at Martin guitar last week and they have a display wall of "what not to do" in their repair section. I wish I had taken some photos.

  9. #34
    Registered User Timbofood's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    This thread reminds me of soooooo many projects that I have seen which might have been salvaged with a little more thought prior to "execution". Someday I hope I listen to the little voice, that says " Wait, think about it first!!!"
    I am laughing so hard my eyes are tearing.
    Timothy F. Lewis
    "If brains was lard, that boy couldn't grease a very big skillet" J.D. Clampett

  10. #35
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    Quote Originally Posted by thistle3585 View Post
    I was at Martin guitar last week and they have a display wall of "what not to do" in their repair section. I wish I had taken some photos.
    I'm kind of glad you didn't. The few photos so far on this thread are scary enough!
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  11. #36
    Registered User j. condino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    John, John, John, John, John, JOHN, JOHN, JOHN!!!!!!!!!!! When are you going to learn to just say, "NO! Get that $#!t otta here!!!!!" Spend your limited time here making those fine mandolins, not with someone else's garbage heap letting a good man get beat down time and time again! A few years back I did pretty elaborate time studies for an entre year on all of the work that passed through the shop. At the end of the year, trying to correct other folks butchery and Chinese builds wound up being 95% of my headaches, 35% of my bench time, and 8% of the years profits....guess how many times I started saying,"NO!", after that discovery????

    I'll add to the repairman's woes:

    Neck repair:


    Dowels through the brace and top!:



    j.
    www.condino.com

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  13. #37
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    James, it belongs to a friend, it looked OK from the outside, should have been a simple job, more or less as a favor. Who would have thought that someone capable of covering their tracks well enough to keep the outside looking pretty good, was covering Gorilla tracks in there!

    My '41 D-18 as it looked when I got it:
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    Sometimes "home made" repairs almost approach folk art!

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  15. #38

    Default Re: Don't do this!

    Some good laughs here, guys. Thanks! I'll add one that I was "taught" years ago, called the "hillbilly neckset" or if you are from the hills they call it a "New York neckset"! Anyway it is for a cheapo $50-100 guitar that doesn't warrant the time or expense to do a proper neckset, in hope of lowering the action and making it playable. Basically, (I wish I had pictures!) you have to have a gap between the neck and the body where you can squirt some glue--your choice of brands! LOL. THEN, you wrap the peghead and first few frets with a bath towel for "protection". You THEN with the top of the guitar face up, pull out the top drawer of a chest of drawers in your bedroom and insert the peghead and first few frets of the neck into the drawer, you then stack a pile of encyclopedias onto the face of the guitar until the gap comes together. (You kind of have to stand on your head to check it!) Also the glue might drip out, so put newspaper on the floor underneath it. Let 'er dry and see how she looks. Being, a sophisticated man of distinction, I have never personally tried this procedure, but those who have tell me it "WORKS GREAT!"

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  17. #39
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    A little bit of this goes a long way. It's more sickening than funny, as I've seen and dealt with a few instruments that had been "fixed at" with less than functional results.

    John, just direct your friend to this thread, then explain what your time is worth.

    At this point either the top or back needs to come off so the neck block can be repaired. Just imagine replacing that block with all the curves snugly fitted to the sides and all. Since the instrument is not a financially viable project I suggest to put the instrument in a frame of some sort and tell your friend to hang it on the wall for nostalgia. This way you don't have to go through the process of making it playable and your friend doesn't have to pay so much.

    If you put it together and make it playable you will always be on the hook if it fails because YOU did the repair.

    Or, if you feel like a challenge . . . . . . .

  18. #40
    Registered User resophonic's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    This is whats left of a Cuban Tres headstock. I guess the previous owner couldn't settle on what kind of instrument this should be.

    The starving artist new owner wanted it returned back into a Tres but wanted to do it on the cheap.

    West System epoxy to the rescue!

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    Sucker for a hard luck case

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  20. #41
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    Quote Originally Posted by sunburst View Post
    ...Sometimes "home made" repairs almost approach folk art!
    Looks like they used stainless, nice! That side repair looks pretty impressive as well.
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
    --M. Stillion

    "Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
    --J. Garber

  21. #42
    Certified! Bernie Daniel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Don't do this!

    Quote Originally Posted by sunburst View Post
    James, it belongs to a friend, it looked OK from the outside, should have been a simple job, more or less as a favor. Who would have thought that someone capable of covering their tracks well enough to keep the outside looking pretty good, was covering Gorilla tracks in there! My '41 D-18 as it looked when I got it:
    Sometimes "home made" repairs almost approach folk art!
    Now that is a very cool repair - does not contribute to re-sale value but still very neat and innovative workmanship! IMO.
    Bernie
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    Due to current budgetary restrictions the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off -- sorry about the inconvenience.

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