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first attempt at a scarf joint. repair ideas needed.

ok well i made the job harder than it needed to be. i didnt quite cut straight and the joint was twisted.

so i double sided taped the two parts together and spent a lot of time sanding it square and even. dry run anf the neck looks square and all good. clamped the neck down added the glue ( titebond) clamped the scarf part to the bench as well and clamps on the joint. all looked great.

the joint slipped while clamping and i didnt notice. now the fretboard has a gap to the scarf joint part of the neck of 1 to 2 mm. headstock was glued on top so it would be covered by the fretboard.

so, what do i do? try gluing a thin veneer on top and sand back ? cut the scarf off and try again? this would make the neck too short for the bass i am making. but i could use it on another guitar.

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Permalink Reply by BrianQ. on January 13, 2019 at 5:52pm

You could heat it up with a heat gun & pull it apart?

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on January 13, 2019 at 8:29pm

Hi, couple of things to mention. What Brian say is one way. Or you could saw through the glue joint and only lose the thickness of the saw and clean up. second I suggest next time leaving the neck shaft longer than needed until after the graft is done. And third when gluing the splice together clamp both the shaft and the peg head down so that they do not move apart when clamped.

I have a jig made up just for this operation, see photo. Notice there is a stop at the peghead end to prevent the parts moving when clamped.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on January 13, 2019 at 9:01pm

well believe it or not that is almost exactly what i did. that looks like headstock under the neck. i did mine over the neck. I clamped the neck to a board and also the head stock to the board and several clamps across the scarf joint. i just didn't notice the headstock slip a bit as i tightened the clamp... note to self.. triple check !

sawing the glue joint and refinishing is a great idea. you guys are the best.

would heat loosen the glue join? with Titebond 3 ?

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Permalink Reply by Taffy Evans on January 14, 2019 at 12:12am

Hi, Never used Titebond 3, just the original Titebond. You could glue up some scrap and test getting it apart.

Taff

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on January 14, 2019 at 4:19am

no go on the heat. so i used a flush cut pull saw to cut the glue line. re sanded the angles and re glued it after triple checking for slip. well its in the clamps and i will see what i have in the morning..