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Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 5:55 pm
by Ryan Mazzocco
So, I did a terrible thing. I dropped a my scratch awl and it hit the spruce top of my current build. upon inspection I found a nice little hole. Is there any way to make this go away?
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Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 6:25 pm
by Gordon Bellerose
DOH!!!!
I'm no help.
I might try to drop a bit of glue in and sand the area, but others with a bit more experience will most likely tell you I'm full of it.

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:00 pm
by Peter Wilcox
Assuming that's shadow and not dirt in the hole, and there's no finish on the guitar, I'd try aggressively steaming it first.

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:37 pm
by Ryan Mazzocco
Peter brings up a good point. This is raw, it's clean, just a dark shadow looking down the puncture. It doesn't go all the way through.
I was thinking about trying to steam it, but wanted to hold off until at least a few of you smart guys suggested it. I guess it's basically like a really big divot and possibly could be steamed out, though I'm not sure all the way. there may need to be some sort of filling (maybe glue and spruce dust) going on here before it's all over. my concern with that is it may look darker in that one spot under finish. ?

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 9:15 pm
by Bob Gramann
As Peter suggests, steaming is the way to go. After you’re sure you can get no more satisfaction with steaming, rather than dust for a fill, make a splinter from the offcuts of the top that looks as much like the area to be patched as possible. Use hot hide glue and wait several days for all the moisture to leave before you level sand it. You may not be able to make it completely disappear, but you can make it so that no one will ever notice (but you, of course).

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:25 am
by Barry Daniels
Glue and sawdust will definitely be too dark. I can't guarantee that this would work but I have a flesh colored shellac stick in my collection that is very close to the color of spruce. You might also even look at the colored wood putties that are available. Or something like wallboard mud could be used with a bit of color added to tone it down to the spruce shade.

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:31 am
by Bob Gramann
The problem with any kind of colored filler is that the wood changes color as it ages but the filler doesn’t. I wish I didn’t know that.

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:12 pm
by Mario Proulx
Time for a creative inlay...

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:19 pm
by Simon Magennis
For me …
First stop: steam.
Another option, but I haven't used it yet although I got a bag of it, is Lycopodium, apparently popular enough in the violin making world.

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 5:00 pm
by Ryan Mazzocco
thanks guys. I steamed it like mad today and got most of it. then after some light sanding made it look pretty good IMO. not perfect but just looks like a small dot in the spruce.

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 5:55 pm
by Bob Gramann
Congratulations. Quit while you’re ahead. You can always make it worse.

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 6:13 pm
by Ryan Mazzocco
Bob Gramann wrote:Congratulations. Quit while you’re ahead. You can always make it worse.
that's my specialty.

Re: Now it's awl messed up!

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 7:45 pm
by Peter Wilcox
Ryan Mazzocco wrote:thanks guys. I steamed it like mad today and got most of it. then after some light sanding made it look pretty good IMO. not perfect but just looks like a small dot in the spruce.
That's great. When you apply the finish (lacquer?), after you put on the first few coats, if needed maybe you can drop fill it before putting on the final coats and it may be almost invisible.