Calton Case damage

[Drew Egerton]

Hello everyone. I have had a Calton case on my mandolin since I got it in 2006.
I love it. Even though I don't travel a ton, I do go to band practices, jams, local gigs, etc. and I like the security of it. Also with small kids around the house, it is added peace of mind!

Anyway, I am not sure how I did it, but my case has gotten a 'hole' in the outer shell material about the diameter of the tip of a pen and I can see the white foam material inside. I'm sure it got hit up against a car door or something like that. The mandolin is fine of course!

This blemish in itself I do not really care about, but I'm concern if the shell will continue to crack around the edges and get bigger and bigger.

Any suggestions on what to do with it?
Has anybody else done some damage to one other than scuffs?

[Canoedad]

I have to wonder if there wasn't an air bubble in the matrix. A picture would be helpful.

[foldedpath]

The nature of fiberglass is such that I don't think you have to worry about the hole spreading (and yes, it might be a bubble?). The glass weave prevents that. You should be able to fill it with epoxy as a cosmetic repair.

[Drew Egerton]

Maybe, but after that many years? I guess it could have been there the whole time and then just finally gotten hit in the right spot.
I will try to get a picture later this evening if I can get one clear enough.

[Gary Alter]

I fell and dropped a Calton on the sidewalk a number of years ago and gouged a fair sized hole into it. I called up Calton and they suggested mixing some epoxy with some water based pigment (I used gouache) to match the color and filling it in. After it dried I did a light sanding to smooth it out, worked great and never had any issues with it after that.

[spufman]

Mandolin Cafe sticker to the rescue.

[MikeEdgerton]

A little Bondo and a Cafe sticker go a long way

[mandroid]

when I was doing a FG layup job to make a Canoe , Part of the work was pressing the Bubbles out of the cloth and resin

before it set up . 1st thing in the mold is the pigmented Gel coat , its sprayed in,

then the layers of glass fabric and resin are added inside and the bubble chasing begins.

[UsuallyPickin]

A readily available commercial product named JB Weld will work fine to fill the hole. It is gray but can be tinted or painted when dry. As pointed out above the epoxy can be wet sanded smooth before painting or tinting. R/

[Bigtuna]

I can bring you some Sun Cure uv surf board resin to the IBMAs. Dab some on the spot, place some clear plastic on it (makes it dry smooth), put in sun and you are done. Finish off with sticker if you like.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Fiberglass,by it's very nature won't crack around a hole,that's one of it's best points. There's a strong possibility that the original f/glass/resin material was epoxy based,so use a tiny bit of epoxy adhesive to fill the hole,leave it to cure & then carefully smooth it off.
As a few members have posted above,bubbles forming in the lay-up can be a real problem.In the production of many commercial products,the items are placed in a vacuum bag & the air is then pumped out to allow the bag to consolidate the matrix more efficiently. In some items that have complex shapes,rubber 'intensifiers' can be moulded to fit difficult sections such as internal corners,where the vac.bag might 'bridge' over. These are forced under pressure into the difficult areas to really make sure that the matrix is consolidated,
Ivan

[Drew Egerton]

Thanks everyone. Totally forgot about the picture amidst too many other things last evening.
I found on the Lowe's website a JB weld product specifically for plastics that looks like it should work well. It's also white, which is a bonus since my case is white. :-)
I do have some Café stickers, but the hole is kind of right on the edge so the placement may be funny.

Thanks for all the tips. I'll post a follow up when I am able to work on it.

[Tobin]

Sure, you can get all fancy and sophisticated with repairs, but nothing will have the mojo of duct tape.

[Mickey King]

I used a little bit of water activated Gorilla glue on mine then sanded it smooth.

[ianbarton]

I feel somewhat qualified to address this as I worked in fiberglass boat restoration... When making fiberglass parts (such as mando cases), Gel Coat is sprayed or brushed into the mold, allowed to set up briefly, and then fiberglass is saturated with epoxy and laid in after. The void you seem to have found usually occurs around a curve in the part rather than a flat surface (is that the case here?) where the fiberglass does not fully sit into the curve completely and you get what is called bridging. This happens sometimes, but as others have said, syringe some goop in there and let it set up. And yeah, the sticker is a good idea to cover the eye sore...

[Canoedad]

I think I remember reading that the new Austin Texas made Caltons are vacuum bagged. If so, that would make them a little lighter and less bubble prone (not to say that the older ones are bubble prone).

[Ken Waltham]

JB Weld is a great product for all kinds of repairs. I'd recommend it highly, you'll never see the repair.

[mandroid]

J B weld is Epoxy with a ground aluminum filler in one tube, the other tube has the catalyst in it,

to mix in and kick start the chemical processes that will set it up .

[Ivan Kelsall]

From ianbarton - "....and then fiberglass is saturated with epoxy and laid in after.". MESSY !. F/Glass first, then resin. The messiest jobs we ever did making aircraft parts was when we used pre-impregnated. f/glass or CF (pre-preg.).That is some really difficult stuff to manhandle. In fact with some f/glass or CF items,if they weren't structural 'load bearing' parts,we'd often make the request that they be vacuum formed from an appropriate 'plastic' sheet material ie .Ultem or Polycarb. We could mould those in multiples & save a heck of a lot of cash in production time,which at over $100/hour dept.cost + overheads = LOTS !,
Ivan

[Shelagh Moore]

I've had the same happen and fixed it easily with a little epoxy filler and a dab of similar coloured acrylic paint.

[Drew Egerton]

Here is a photo of my damage. Hopefully this weekend I will have time to try a fix. Thanks for all the input.

[wbcohen]

Forget about it and play.

[Tobin]

Looks to me like just a ding in the gel coat, not even a structural issue.

[ianbarton]

From ianbarton - "....and then fiberglass is saturated with epoxy and laid in after.". MESSY !. F/Glass first, then resin.
Ivan

Either way... but if you wet the glass out first, you can make sure you don't put too much resin in...which means you get a stronger product because you have the right glass to resin ratio. but that doesn't make any difference in this case... just need to fill the void.

[mandroid]

Tiny ding .. a dab of spackle or RTV caulk should do ..