hamed
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 1-18-2005
Location: Seattle, Washington
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Hairline crack near fingerboard
Hi All - i know this is a common problem with ouds, however i couldn’t find a previous thread that describes the best repair method.
I left one of my ouds close enough to the heating vent that i think the warm air stream caused a hairline crack in the soundboard near the
fingerboard. This a spruce top and extended ebony fingerboard, the crack is a couple inches long and starts a few inches from the neck joint. It’s
a hairline crack, not really noticeable unless you look closely.
Question: what is the best way to fix this? I’ve looked at guitar repair videos where luthiers have used “cleats” to patch the inside of the
soundboard, while working glue into the crack on the outside. However this would require rosette removal.
Curious to hear your thoughts, i have the tools necessarily as i replaced a soundboard on one of my ouds (it came out quite nice) however would like
to hear opinions from the pros.
Thanks
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coolsciguy
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Hi Hamed,
Not a pro, but I was having the exact same issue - hairline crack on spruce soundboard along ebony fingerboard - and my luthier friend advised to
inject some liquid superglue in the crack with a syringe and needle.
So I filled a syringe with low viscosity superglue and injected all cracks using a fine needle. I probably went a little overboard, there are some
shiny lines from the glue if one looks closely but otherwise there is no trace of repairs to be found. My luthier friend said the fix would keep for
years.
Hope this helps
Amir
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SamirCanada
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It is often the case with ebony glued on top of spruce. They dont absorb and loose humidity at the same rate. The younger the spruce top the worse the
condition. Ouds are often made with tops younger than 5 years. The warm vent will accelerate this process but was likely going to happen anywhere with
forced air heating.
So how to repair it...my advice would be to go with hide glue if you know how to make. It does tend to pull the crack together. More importantly you
need to leave your old in a 50 to 60 % humidity environment for a while.the crack will close up. If you let it drop below 40% the crack will reappear.
@samiroud Instagram
samiroudmaker@gmail.com
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hamed
Oud Junkie
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Ok thanks for the info guys. I was leaning towards using hide glue, maybe diluting a little bit with water and heating up. I have the titebond hide
glue, do you think this is acceptable?
This is a super nice oud so don’t want to skimp on it
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Kelly
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Hi there. I’d be cautious with titebond liquid hide glue. It might not have the holding strength depending on expiration date as well as
clamping/drying time and probably not suitable if diluted Fresh made is probably best. I’ve been using Old Brown glue however and ok so far as
long as used correctly and in date but some luthiers would be cautious even with that too especially for stress joints.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/forum/problems-with-liquid-hide-glue
Kelly
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hamed
Oud Junkie
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Hey guys thanks for the responses, very helpful
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coolsciguy
Oud Junkie
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Hi Hamed,
Please provide an update on your oud if possible. Thanks.
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hamed
Oud Junkie
Posts: 293
Registered: 1-18-2005
Location: Seattle, Washington
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Hello
I used hide glue to seal the crack, dampened the area first and used very little which i rubbed in. Before doing this i removed the strings and
bought a humidifier to bring humidity to around 45%. I was hoping that crack would seal itself once humidity was at ~ 45, which is when i started the
glueing. It doesn’t look great but the crack is sealed and hasn’t gotten any larger.
Here are some photos -
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coolsciguy
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Thanks Hamed, your oud looks great from the pictures.
My issue was not resolved with liquid superglue injection. As humidity dropped this winter to 15%, the cracks opened up and crawled longer. I'd like
to try the hide glue method but I don't know what to expect next winter when the humidity drops again.
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coolsciguy
Oud Junkie
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Btw, what is the general consensus about leaving cracks be on soundboard without treatment? In my case, the worst is done and the sound in relatively
unaffected despite the cracks.
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