Clamping a "Side Flake"
© Frank Ford, 10/17/99; Photos by FF, 9/25/99
Here's a little flake that's sticking out at the end of a long crack in the side of this Martin D-18:
As you can see, it's just sticking out a little bit:
I won't have much trouble clamping the long crack tightly after I get my glue worked into it, but this little flake presents a bit of a problem, because I want to clamp it to the curved surface as I'm gluing up the rest of the crack.
My quick solution:
I took two of my little Quick Grip clamps and used them to "spring" my flexible steel rule to the curve of the guitar side over the flake. That's a piece of waxed paper keeping the ruler from getting stuck to the side. I looked around for various springy things in the shop, tried a few, and found that this ruler assumed the curve very nicely. For a different radius curve, I may have to find another springy thing, perhaps a thin slip of hardwood.
Now I can add in the rest of my Quick Grips to finish clamping the long section of the crack.
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