Well, I just called to check up on it today. So far nothing's changed with the crack after being strapped overnight. What my tech is going to do next is get a moist papertowel and put it over that crack to see it the wood swells closer together. I have high hopes that it will, because it looks like very thirsty wood. It will probably act like a sponge to that moisture.

I've also been doing a little online research and someone had a thread much like this one for a crack in an old Martin just under the pickguard (the pickguard shrunk, causing the crack). It was so wide you could drop a penny into it (which is definitely wider than the one I'm dealing with). After the luthier added a moist towel it swelled to the point it could be glued without a splint. I'm not sure if that will happen here, but it's definitely worth a try.

I have several ideas for how to go about repairing it if that doesn't help though. I'll be able to take another look at it this Monday and determine whether I could start work then or if I need to wait and buy anything as far as splints and/or tools go.

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This thread is super interesting. I wish I had something to add, but it's awesome.

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Good day, TGS. These are wise questions, and I know some but not all of the answers.

There exists exactly the correct chiselling tool for this job. In this picture you see what are collectively known as "gravers", designed for wood engraving in printmaking:



You can buy them with angled mushroom handles like mine on the left, or straight ones. That's purely a matter of personal preference:



The one in that last photo is also the left-hand one in this next close-up, and this is the graver for your task. Where I live this is called a "square scorper", but I have a sneaking feeling the names might be different west of the Atlantic:



You see that it has a slight taper to the blade, being slimmer on the bottom surface. That helps you to chisel a channel in your guitar top that is a bit narrower at the bottom than the top, which in turn aids in getting the replacement splint of wood to fit snugly.

So far, so good. Where I live I could point you immediately at several suppliers of these tools, but of course I don't know suppliers in North America. One American company that is known beyond your shores is Graphic Chemical & Ink Co., and they supply good quality gravers at prices which by the standards of these things are reasonable:

https://www.graphicchemical.com/shopdis ... asp?page=2

Unfortunately, as you see their website is far less than helpful. Unless you already know what their model names and numbers mean you are none the wiser from looking at those four pages. They don't list a "square scorper", only round ones. I suspect what you want is probably what they call their "square #4 or #6 bent shaft", but without seeing a picture or blade diagram we can't be sure.

I notice they have a button at the bottom of the page that allows you to order a free catalog through the mail, and I suggest you do that and see if their paper catalog is more helpful than their online one. Or you could email them my first picture above and tell them you want a graver like my one on the left and ask which one it is in their list?

Or you could just search for other more helpful suppliers of printmakers'/wood-engravers' tools. (Any other printmakers on this Forum? I sort of doubt it...)

Anyhow. That's the tool for the job.

Regarding the rosette, I simply don't know what to do about that. Removing it, repairing the wood and then reseating it would be amazingly difficult and perhaps impossible. So maybe the thing to do is to treat it as two different cracks either side of the rosette and repair them separately: once the soundboard is repaired a remaining gap in the wood beneath the rosette probably doesn't matter.

It might be an idea to ask a question on a specialist acoustic guitar luthiers' forum. Or maybe you could see if Dan Erlewine himself would reply to a question on Stew-Mac's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/StewMac

For sure, you need very expert advice on this aspect of it, and this is certainly where my knowledge runs out. So I don't want to guess.

Lastly, your question about books and websites. I have many but not all of the books. Of them, the pages you've studied in the Guitar Player Repair Guide are the best I know of, though as you say, not quite a step-by-step guide. I've never got round to buying either the Big Red Book of American Lutherie or the two printed volumes of Stew-Mac's Trade Secrets. Perhaps a detailed guide to split repairs is to be found in one of those.

Also, I wonder if one of the violin repair books has more information about repairing spruce soundboards - it is a common problem with violins, after all. Michael Atria's Violin Repair Guide is cheap but I don't have it, so I don't know if he deals with splits. I do have Violin Making by Bruce Ossman and can save you the trouble of looking: it's not in there.

There are specialist websites for this stuff but so far I haven't found one with the detail you need. I shall keep looking and perhaps other Forum users here can too.

Later - C

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PS: Ooo - I just talked on the phone to my dad (violin maniac). He says Strad Magazine has articles about this sort of thing and publish them in book form. And it so happens he has one of their books on order, awaiting delivery. So when it comes I'll take a look and see if there's useful info to pass on.

Stay tuned...

Cheers - C

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Thanks for the ideas Ceri. Luckily I live near several hardware and arts and crafts stores, so I'll probably be able to find anything I need locally.

Trying to get in contact with Dan Erlewine would be really cool. I haven't been able to find any specific answers on anything by using google, it seems like I have something somewhat unusual. I'm guessing most people don't try and repair something like this themselves. I'm particularly curious to know how the brace directly under the crack is affecting things.

I also found out some very interesting things about Levin which I didn't know. First, a Goya (Levin's North American brand name) acoustic made an appearance on The Sound of Music.
http://www.acousticguitarcommunity.com/group/goyaandlevinguitarowners/forum/topics/the-sound-of-music

Second, and probably most excitingly, someone else a lot of you may be familiar with also played a Levin... (He's playing a Levin De-Luxe in the photo.)



http://www.vintage-guitars.se/Levin_1937-1939_Levin_De_Luxe_xxxxxx.htm

It's not a nylon string, but it's still pretty cool!

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Great thread here...hope the moist paper towel trick works out! Great score TGS and nice pic of Django

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Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

+1

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

The best things in life are free ( sure I heard music as I wrote that), nice one TGS, hope the repair works out on your (cough) Martin / Levin

To answer your question: Yes , I have heard about Levin. I actually own one
It is also produced in 1975 - I bought it new in 1976. Since that day I have played it each and every day - it is still my 'go to'-guitar, even though I have bought several instruments later (among them 3 Fenders )
My guitar is not a classical/nylon-stringed one- it's what was called a western-guitar at that time , dreadnought these days. the model is W36. It's got a solid spruce top , mahogany back and sides. Rosewood fretboard. Very simple design- but an awesome sound and playability !
Many musicians have tried it - and they are getting quite shocked as they find out how good it is.
Some years ago I headed for the music shop , determined to reward myself with a Martin D28- but I turned out disappointed with no guitar- could not see the point in using all that money as I liked the Levin better.
The later years ( as the internet came along ) I 've been doing some research about the brand. As I can remember- H.F. Levin was working in the US - Martin factory, went home to Sweden and established the Levin Guitar Company, year 1900. And also sent his son to work with Martin. They became award-winning and popular , mainly in Scandinavia- but also in other European countries. The 'Goya'-brand was what they called instruments sold in the U.S.
Martin , however, bought the company Levin, ca 1973. Evil tongues says they did it just so they could close down the factory to get rid of the competition! The label inside mine , says: Handmade in Sweden- Levin by Martin!
So if you see one( I only know the W36 & W32 models, the 32 was the better model, ebony fretboard etc) -and it's made in Sweden BUY IT !!! You won't regret.
But be aware of that the brand name is out on the market again, but these are produced in the far east , and I do not know anything about them!
So I hope You will be as satisfied with your Levin, as I am with mine. I guess it will be woth your efforts! So keep up the good work - good luck !

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A-man

"Can I hear an a-man?"

Welcome to the forum, friend.

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Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancin'

Thanks for posting asgeirman, all the more reason to fix the one I've got! I can't wait to play it. And welcome to the forum too!

Oh and Ceri, it turns out my Dad has some bar clamps in the garage. So if I need them, I know I already have them.

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Kind of an Antique Roadshow winner story. A little history lesson with a course in wood working wrapped around it. Many thanks for this restoration thread.

John.E

Well, it's been sitting in the strap for about a week. (I'm still trying to find those bar clamps, didn't have luck at the first hardware store I went to and my Dad's clamps are too heavy for it.) The wood actually is coming together. Near the sound hole you could probably get away with gluing it without a splint or anything. In the middle, it's still iffy. And towards the opposite side of the sound hole it's also tightened up nicely. And we haven't even tried the paper towel humidifier thing yet, maybe we'll do that tomorrow. After seeing how it's doing I'm more optimistic about it possibly not needing a splint. I think it might do all right with just glue and bar clamps.

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Good!

If you manage to close the crack without splinting that's great. And of course a well-made glue joint will likely be stronger than the original wood.

But re-enforcing it from beneath may also then be a good idea. There is a thing they used to do in the violin world that has lately been coming back into fashion. They use hide glue to stick a piece of parchment onto the soundboard beneath a re-glued crack. Parchment is even stronger than a wood patch, and being very thin doesn't affect the resonant properties of the timber adversely.

Hmm: I really must pick up that violin repair book...

Now. I wonder if one of the US based carpenters here can advise TGS on a quality online tool supplier who can offer those light aluminum sash cramps (bar clamps, are you calling them your side of the pond?) at a sensible price?

Good luck - C

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