East German Mandolin? Repair.

[Iaen]

Bought this the other week and mostly it is good shape. However it does have a couple of cracks in the soundboard. They seem to be held by a brace and the binding at the bottom from expanding anymore. Is there any way I could repair them without taking the top off and with minimal tools. Only paid $40 for so I am not sure if it would be worth the expense of sending it out. Thanks John

[HoGo]

They look like cracks from dryness. Try to humidify tha mandolin if they close. Aslo check if the bracing inside is not loose. clamping o fthese is nearly impossible if they won't do it after humidity goes up and since you are in TX I'd try splints to fix it. first clean the cracks with deionized water and let it dry.
Make long shaving of spruce slightly wedge shaped in crosssection that will fit into the crack relatively easily (you may angle the surfaces of the crack lightly with wedge shaped blade of knife- do not cut, just compress edges so that the swedge will come in).
you may compress the splint with roling pin or such so it will go in easier. Glue (preferrably ho hide glue) will swell the compressed wood and make joint tighter. I'm not sure how good Titebond is at swelling the wood back (I'd use less compression for Titebond just in case...) AFter drying trim the splinter with razor blade (go slow and watch grain direction, so you won't cut into the top) and then finish touchup, some dark shellas with fine point artist brush should mek it less noticeable.
You can google for this type of repair, perhaps there are good vids on YT.
Good luck!

[Jeff Mando]

I agree with HoGo to try humidifying first. Often these cracks will close completely with humidity. You don't have a lot of room to work, but I would put a damp sponge inside the mandolin under the cracks, cover the soundhole, and leave it for a week or so and check it. I usually set the sponge in a small dish when working inside a guitar, but you won't have that much room, so I would place the sponge on a plastic baggie or a piece of flexible plastic cut from a margarine tub lid. Sometimes they will close overnight, believe it or not. When they are closed, you can feather some Titebond into the cracks with your finger, working each side of the crack to get the glue down in there. The tricky part is to carefully wipe the excess glue from each side of the crack with a damp cloth. Sometimes I will wrap the damp cloth around a small flatblade screwdriver to guide the cloth along the sides of the seam. The glue will draw down into the crack while drying. And, original Titebond will dry a similar color to the top of your mandolin, so it shouldn't be too noticeable. If you are lucky, that is all you will need to do. I've had repairs like this last for years.

[Iaen]

I will try the humidifying first and see what happens. Humidity is usually not a problem down here but it has dryer than I can remember so far this winter. If not I have some spruce laying around to make a wedge and try to fill the gap. From what I can tell the bracing is still tight, but I need to get a better mirror to inspect more. Appreciate the help.