SHAZBOT!!!

&@#%!!!

I'll be honest, a sailor would have blushed at the vigor and color of my language after seeing this development.  This crack formed soon after I unclamped the PRS - so I've known about it for a little while now.  I wanted to address it - and talk about fixing it in the same post so, I've been holding out until now to discuss it.

rassa frakin' rackin' on a rassa frackin' rackin' rack

So, what happened?  

A few things could have happened: I didn't use enough glue (or pressure) on that spot, there was a killer twist/warp to one of the pieces of the lamination that I didn't see, the temperature and humidity could have been too extreme while this was curing, or the router (being on the endgrain) may have knocked these two pieces of the laminate loose when I was routing the body.  I don't know for sure.  Looking at the crack (and you can see clear from top to bottom for the first 1/4 inch) it looks like there wasn't enough glue to hold it together at this spot and the router probably jolted the pieces apart.  Looking at the guitar top (above picture) the crack runs about 1 to 2 inches.  Looking at the bottom it runs for less than an inch.

What to do...?

The rest of the joint is strong and not moving anytime soon - so it doesn't make sense to tear the body blank apart and start over.  I need to fill the crack but also strengthen the joint in that area.  The most popular solution is to use CA glue.  Cyanoacrylate Glue (also known as Superglue) is clear, strong, and quick to harden.  Also, if you buy the right kind (for example - not the kind you find in your local pharmacy or supermarket) it will 'wick' into the crack and really seal the fissure.

Aw, come on.  I'm great with kids!

I will admit - I may have just swallowed a bunch of marketing info-babble.  But to my eyes this stuff seeped into the crack better than the contents of a regular bottle of Superglue would have.  Also, this comes with precision applicators that regular Superglue doesn't (which alone was worth the $2 premium I paid for this stuff).

The real trick to this process is not to just flood the crack with CA glue and call it a day but also to add saw dust and CA glue in layers to help fill the gap and also make it easier to hide the repair.

Did I say 'saw dust?'  I meant saw powder.

Not pictured: lines

That tiny (and I mean tiny!) pile of powder above is the result of 5 minutes of sanding with 220 grit sandpaper.  For the new arrivals - sandpaper is identified by grit.  60/80 grit is your Arnold Schwarzenegger level of paper - strong, but lacking any subtlety.  100 to 180 grit is your Tom Cruise level of paper - workman-like but lacking finesse.  200 to 400 grit is where we start to get some grace - maybe Ed Harris or Anthony Hopkins.  Somewhere around 1000 grit we hit Meryl Streep territory and after that the analogy falls apart...

So, what I'm saying is that the Yellowheart 'dust' in the above picture is closer to baby powder than wood chips.  I made three piles of powder (one for the top, one for the back, and one for the edge of the body blank).  Step one was to flood a little CA glue into the top of the crack and let it dry.
Step two was to pack the wood powder into the crack from each side.

Crack is whack

Step three was to pour the CA glue over that packed in powder.
Step four was to repeat the above steps until the wood powder/CA glue mixture was proud of the crack.

I may look ugly now - but I'm drinkin' CA glue.  And someday I'm gonna be strong!

Then we wait.  But this is superglue, so we don't wait long!
That stuff cures hard as a rock - and when you add the Yellowheart powder it has something to bond to and form around.  So, you are left with a mound of Yellowheart 'rock.'
The trick is that rock doesn't 'sand out' that well.  I ended up using a card scraper to remove all the excess CA glue and Yellowheart.  If you don't have one - I recommend getting one.  Card scrapers are great for a lot of guitar building tasks (like installing binding).

This is what is left over after you scrape and sand...

Not pictured: perfection

Pictured: Better living through chemicals

The above pictures aren't bad.  But You won't fool anyone.  You can see the line of hardened CA glue.

What happens when we wipe on a little mineral spirits to simulate a lacquer finish...?

Better but room for improvement

Pictured: not terrible

I'm going to hold off judgement until I start carving this top.  The above spot is going to be a 1/2 inch shorter after I'm done carving - so who knows how it will look.  I'm satisfied that I have stopped the crack and strengthened the joint.  I'll deal with the aesthetics when the time comes.