Patch a hole in my Martin 000

[David Roberts]

Howdy. As you can see from the pictures my late 50's 000 has a large hole in it. I am considering fixing it myself. My idea is to trim the (horizontal) long sides with a razor blade and try to match the short edges on the patch. I plan to prebend before trimming the patch to match the (vertical) short side-jagged ends on the sides with chisel and dremel shaping. Looking for candid opinions or advice. I have a large sized piece of sapele and hope to make a patch with grain and color that doesn't look obvious. I have OK wood working skills and have painted my share of guitars. The guitar is playable, but I am afraid the hole might effect the sound. Thank you in advance.

[David Roberts]

[David Roberts]

[Len Biglin]

I usually make the patch oversized , then chamfer the edges of hole and patch , so the patch is dropping into a tapered hole , then you sand it till it fits perfectly , use titebond or hide glue and afterwards glue some cleats across inside . Grain fill the patch then clear lacquer , then tinted lacquer in shades till it matches .

[David Roberts]

Thank you so much Len. Your approach is consistent with other I have read and pics I have seen. What do you think is the part of this repair that will require the most skill or patience. Also what do you use to chamfer the edge?

[Len Biglin]

Bending the wood is the hardest part , maybe use a steam iron then clamp it into a curve overnight .

[Len Biglin]

When I said "sand it till it fits" i mean sand the edges of the patch until it fits in flush .

[Keith Somerville]

Have you made any progress, David?

[David Roberts]

Howdy,

I took the guitar to a luthier. He showed me the measurements and said the guitar will likely need a neck set. So I strung it up just to check the action and see if the guitar is playable. He was right. Given that the guitar needs a neck reset too, I figure I might as well go all in and have a pro do the job. I appreciate all the advice.-Dave