Repair And Restoration
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Electric mandolin headstock repair – a previous glue and screw job used….
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Electric mandolin headstock repair – a previous glue and screw job used….
Hey!
So I’ve got a customer who has dropped off with me one of the nastier headstock breaks I’ve seen in recent memory.
There is excess glue of some sort (rock hard, clear) all inside the break, along with the threaded tracks of the screws.
I’d usually just recommend a replacement neck in this case, but the customer is desperate to keep this neck as it holds some sentimental value to him. He’s aware the repair will not be invisible, however I’m questioning if it is possible. I’ve done a couple epoxy glue ups when previous glue joints have failed with west 105 to great success, however they were not as severe as this.
My current plan is to prepare the surfaces with needle files and scuff sanding for good adhesion, then fitting the pieces back together with west system 105 epoxy with the slow cure resin. I really do doubt that there will be any fibre penetration happening with the epoxy, so I don’t think this will hold alone, especially with the voids introduced from the screws.
I then plan to drill out the old screw tracks, and use hard wood to fill the voids with epoxy once again.
I’m also looking at reinforcing splines, however the thin headstock does make it somewhat difficult for me to work with as I don’t have a lot of depth. Potentially a good case for “lollipop stick” style splines?
Another option I considered was drilling appropriate dowel holes up and down the headstock from the inside to joint them together.
I’ve been given the go ahead to give this a nice thick coat of black and clear polyurethane afterwards to help disguise it.
Any advice or guidance would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks,
Aleks
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3 Replies
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Man, this is a tough one. I would really look at wrapping the majority of the neck in several layers of carbon fiber.
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Thanks Ian – I take it you don’t think epoxy and splines will hold? Is there anything that can be done to cover carbon fiber or is it just visually apparent?
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Some people have painted over faux wood. It would certainly be acceptable on this instrument to give that a whirl. We did an episode with joe glaser on the subject. Nikki Walters did a fine article on the subject as well.
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