black_labb Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 (edited) i need some advice for the best way to fix a crack through the headstock that happened when i was drilling the tuner hole. the drill hand drill had a drill stand that was clamped to the neck, and when it was through the hole the drill hit the edge of the bench which made it pull away from the bass, cracking it along the headstock as you can see in the photos. would you guys suggest flooding the crack with titebond and then clamping heavily, or would that not make a sufficient join for a spot where there is a reasonable amount of pull from the strings. if you think i should glue it back together, would you suggest i fully split it off, so that i can get the glue into all of the little cracks, or would you suggest that i do my best to push the tightbond into the crack, but leave it connected to ensure that it is in the exact same place. here are some photos http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/black_labb/crack1.jpg thanks for the help, the worst thing is the bass is literally done, other than some sanding, the nut, the tuner holes and the pup covers. Edited October 14, 2007 by black_labb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 i need some advice for the best way to fix a crack through the headstock that happened when i was drilling the tuner hole. the drill hand drill had a drill stand that was clamped to the neck, and when it was through the hole the drill hit the edge of the bench which made it pull away from the bass, cracking it along the headstock as you can see in the photos. would you guys suggest flooding the crack with titebond and then clamping heavily, or would that not make a sufficient join for a spot where there is a reasonable amount of pull from the strings. if you think i should glue it back together, would you suggest i fully split it off, so that i can get the glue into all of the little cracks, or would you suggest that i do my best to push the tightbond into the crack, but leave it connected to ensure that it is in the exact same place. here are some photos http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/black_labb/crack1.jpg thanks for the help, the worst thing is the bass is literally done, other than some sanding, the nut, the tuner holes and the pup covers. flood the crack with titebond and clamp it! that should do the trick. I don't think you need to split it off the part that is still connected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_labb Posted October 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 flood the crack with titebond and clamp it! that should do the trick. I don't think you need to split it off the part that is still connected. thanks for the help, i decided to do exactly that with the reasoning that if it didnt work properly it wouldnt change what i needed to do for a second option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low end fuzz Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 the only time i would snap it completley off was if you were going to plane it smooth and add on to it; your doing it the right way; exept i would wiggle the peice back and forth filled with glue, so it would get deep into all the tight areas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digideus Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Im not sure I would have used Wenge in a neck like that. The stuff can be quite brittle when aligned like that and put under stress. You can see where the wenge fibres have just ripped apart causing the break out in the first place. Consequently I would be worried about gluing it in case it happened again, but its your call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 I just fixed a similar crack, except the crack ran through three tuner holes. I didn't 'flood' it with titebond, just put on a reasonable amount. The neck's been under full string tension for a couple of days now and so far I haven't seen any kind of movement, so I'm not really expecting any. EDIT: I should mention that I glued the crack up months and months ago. Only just got around to using the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Personally I'd repair this with thick CA or Epoxy, although titebond will do. Also: learn from this. Drill with a press if at all possible, and if not, at least clamp (firmly!) a backing board to your headstock and THEN drill holes. Prevent blow-outs and other assorted nasties. A nice, new forstner is actually the ideal drill bit for drillig tuner holes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_labb Posted October 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Personally I'd repair this with thick CA or Epoxy, although titebond will do. Also: learn from this. Drill with a press if at all possible, and if not, at least clamp (firmly!) a backing board to your headstock and THEN drill holes. Prevent blow-outs and other assorted nasties. A nice, new forstner is actually the ideal drill bit for drillig tuner holes... its fixed and you wouldnt even know its there. i used a hand drill mounted into a drill stand i borrowed from my girlfriends dad. the bass is ultimately for her to learn and play on. the tuner holes needed to be 17/32"/ 13.5mm. this is a very odd size, as most drill sets stop at 13mm/1/2". i had to go to an engineers shop to get the size (cost more than my drill set of 1.5-13mm with half mm intervals, which was a decent set from a machine shop but on special because of the broken case). to find the size in a forstner bit would be hell. the holes are drilled now and look very clean. i dont have access to a drill press as im quite minimal with the tools i do so many things by making jigs for my router. thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black_labb Posted October 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2007 ok, ive strung it up (not finished or with electronics at this stage) but it sounds great acoustically, the crack is holding up fine, cant even see it. i tensioned the strings well past standard tuning (electric tuner mistake) so it is plenty strong. ill make a topic when its finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.