Crack fillers - old soundboards

[Richard Brekne]

You know... I have seen at least 10 different classes on shimming and repairing
of cracks... everybody's got a meaning about this shimming thing... and it almost
always centers around how to prepare the wood for glueing...thats the key they
all say... to keep them from re-cracking.  Some say use a router.. others say
that particular circular motion at high speed scours the wood and makes the glue
less then effective. Some say old fashioned hand tools.... others say after the
first pull or two the tool needs resharpening and if you dont do it you will just
crush the wood cells... I have seen specially built circular saws, a punch saw,
jigs for a dremel... you name it... But I will tell you what I have yet to see...
a 5 year old shim that hadnt pulled loose... now of course I am sure they are out
there and by the plenty. But epoxy fills....now they just last forever..

As far as how much this fixes the "problem" you mention below. The problem is
almost always in some way or another climate related... so of course repairing
the damage caused by the problem isnt going to solve that problem.  But on the
other hand..... well I just wrote all that in another reply...so go read
that..grin



Yardarm103669107@AOL.COM wrote:

> In a message dated 4/30/2001 2:14:21 PM Central Daylight Time,
> mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com writes:
>
> << Sometimes cracks cause buzzing. Filling them or proper shimming
>  will stop/prevent a buzz from a cracked soundboard >>
>
> The crack doesn't cause the buzzing but the pieces of splintered wood
> adjacent to each other across the gap of the crack. Shims will always recrack
> along the glued edges at some point, so now there are three cracks instead of
> one. Delaminated ribs are indeed another issue and need to be addressed
> appropriately. I guess I don't mean to be such a hardass about this, but over
> the years I've concluded (always subject to correction) that shimming is just
> about as close to purely cosmetic as you can get; it makes the customer (or
> buyer) think that there is no longer a problem, but the problem (the cause of
> the original cracking) hasn't been fixed, just sidestepped. I'd appreciate
> your take on this.
> PR-J

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no