Chris_Stephens - 9-18-2014 at 08:05 AM
I was cleaning the gunk under the strings off the fretboard and SNAP! Wasn't even that much pressure but the little soft piece of cedar that was
holding the neck to the body broke in half. Is it normal to use such a soft wood for such a hard job? I assumed metal would hold them together.
Anyway, off to try to fix this, any suggestions appreciated. Still saving for a proper instrument but until then....
SamirCanada - 9-18-2014 at 09:14 AM
I had a feeling when I saw your first pictures that the dowel inside may be broken, the action was way too high and you were able to shim it back down
too easily.
Well, depending on your skills you can buy a 1/2" forstner bit and drill out the neck and neck block again 3"deep. try to impart a small backwards
angle of say 10 dgrees at most. it will yield the best action. you should also buy a matchin 1/2" hardwood dowel, try hard maple a first choice. then
you cut the dowel to right length, apply glue and stuff it in the neck and work the neck in the neck block.
thats it, try to mark the exact location where to drill so the fingerboard lines up with the face flush.
check this
http://www.droud.com/neckreset.html
Chris_Stephens - 9-18-2014 at 11:48 AM
Oh you think it was broken this whole time? Could have been, i don't know, but you're right it was very easy to bend it back to correct the action.
Why was a soft wood dowel used in the first place? Time to drill...
majnuunNavid - 9-20-2014 at 07:41 PM
my god... I've never seen this happen..
jdowning - 9-21-2014 at 04:23 AM
Judging from your previous topic describing the problem with the high action on this oud it is clear that most of the glue in the neck joint had
failed and the neck may only have been held in place by some glue remaining in the lower part of the 'bracelet' under the neck joint. Wedging the open
gap at the neck joint to realign the neck and lower the action only served to put additional stress on what little remained of the glue in the joint
leading to complete separation of the neck. Neck joint failure was inevitable under the circumstances.
On the positive side, this is the opportunity to fix the neck properly. Note that the bracelet should be removed and all traces of the old (hopefully
hide) glue removed. Ensure that the neck joint is a perfect fit when the neck is properly aligned before re-gluing with high bloom strength hot hide
glue. This glue is very strong and gels quickly so no special (and awkward to arrange) clamping should be necessary - just hold the neck in place with
hand pressure for a couple of minutes or so and then leave undisturbed in place for a day or so for the glue to fully cure. The natural shrinkage of
the hot hide glue will ensure that the neck joint is pulled tightly together as the glue dries. Then re-fit the bracelet to complete the job.
An accurately made neck joint should not need a dowel or dovetail - just a plain butt joint made with hide glue should suffice - but, in this case, it
is probably best to retrofit the dowel for additional security (and convenient aid to alignment when gluing) as Samir proposes.
jdowning - 9-21-2014 at 04:49 AM
Just for information concerning the strength of a plain butt joint neck joint, here are some tests that I reported some time ago on this forum
comparing the strength of a plain glued neck joint (without dowel) compared to a nailed and glued neck joint (found on old lutes and violins). The
plain joint was made with hot hide glue and held in place with hand pressure only until the glue gelled. The plain butt joint did eventually fail but
only after being subjected to extreme, non typical environmental conditions of humidity and temperature for several days.
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=12428