Acrylic Neck Break..You gotta see this one!!!!

[Jeff Perkins]

A customer has brought in a broken acrylic neck on a Washburn electric. I've never even seen one before. He stated that he used some acrylic epoxy, with no avail. I thought about melting the two ends to a sticky consistancey and clamping them back together, with a follow up of some scraping, rasping and sanding. My question is, are there any chemicals out there that would work to melt both ends in order to reattach them permanately? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Ned Knepp]

Jeff, I haven't tried it or even seen a neck like this but I think acrylic aquarium manufacturers use acrylic adhesives from Weldon. You might see if there happens to be a manufacture of acrylic aquarium in your area. They may have recommendation or even some you can purchase. I understand that some of them have short work times so it might be a good idea to talk to someone with some experience with them.

[Eric Steven Johansen]

Maybe it was just the wrong epoxy. I'd do a test with West Systems. After cleaning off the other stuff of course.

[Jeff Perkins]

Thanks a lot guys!! You always are life savers!

Jeff

[Robbie Collins]

A real risk is melting it back together and losing the nut slot. I'm guessing the repair will be opaque and visible.

Here's a tutorial on gluing acrylic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT6Ow_cBTps

[RETROROD]

That is a unique material junction! Have not seen that guitar before. I remember a Dan Armstrong....????? Lucite see-through guitar. I always liked them!

Good luck! I would think that the West Systoms' E-P-XY would do the job!

I would assume opaque and visible also!

[Russell Vance]

PUT IT IN THE BIN RIGHT NOW.  You can thank me later for this advice.

Other wize, drawing on my surfboard making days, get a fibreglass ding kit and fix it with a fibreglass mat sheath/splint arrangement after rough keying the whole area.  This will be ugly but as neck integrity is the name of the game here I suggest butt-jointing an acrylic is not a sound or viable idea unless anyone has real experience with a miracle cure here. 

The water thin acrylic glue used by Aquarium makers (and us in building our plexi/lexan jigs) relies on a very flat and very close bond surface - it is probably an unsat glue for this purpose.   The Weldon thick stuff (binding glue) will probably not melt a set acrylic and that's going to end in tears as well.   You can bore and rod/pin this sort of thing but it's just ugly and messy and expensive (if you are a commercial business).    Go back to the top of the page and trust me.

Rusty. 

[Robbie Collins]

Acrylic isn't glued...it's "solvent welded."  IPS Weld-On 16 can be used when you have an irregular surface as it's thicker and fills voids. I think I'd do this first and then try filling with epoxy.  Another possibility is to trim both the  headstock and the wooden scarf joint to get smooth mating surfaces and weld a splice of acrylic to the headstock shaped to fit the scarf.

I'd make sure all cauls and tools are ready to go and everything's been dry fitted. Probably only get once chance at it.

Another possibility is removing the fretboard, scarfing on a new piece of acrylic, and remaking the headstock. Probably the only way to get an invisible repair.

[Russell Vance]

Yep, these are things you can do, no doubt.   However, Weld-On used as a gap filler provides no strength in the areas that it is not actually bonding and I don't see much surface area in this fracture.  Ditto advice about filling with epoxy - its not the gap filling that provides the strength;  its the surface area, and last time I looked epoxy doesn't glue (or weld) to acrylic very well

The removal of the fingerboard and re-scarfing a sculptured replica acrylic peg-head is possible (been there done that with a Specter Bass that had the whole headstock disintergrated) and will make a fine repair.   However, my advice was given in commercial terms - a new replacement guitar costs less than half the price (and that's being generous) of this repair would cost at a commercial rate.  That, was the basis for my advice.

If you are doing the job for fun and giggles and don't have to provide a guarantee go ahead - anything is possible, but as you referred to your "customer" I made a  call based on commercial reality and responsibility.   This is not trite - you can re-assemble a broken egg  given time and patience but it's easier just to buy a new egg.

Regards, Rusty.

[Kerry Krishna]

 Jeff, the advice given by these folks above this post is golden. To tell the truth, when ever I see that some Forum member here has taken on a job if 'fixing someone else's repair' I generally shut up and don't say anything. I stopped doing all repairs like this about 15 years ago. Reassembling an egg as Russell said just about covers it. I would give the guitar back to him, and tell him to find another neck.  There is no way that you can do this repair and guarantee it will not break again in a week or a year. 

 Choose your battles Bucko. Send this one back with your regrets.... 

Just my opinion though. 

[Donald A. Fortune]

Hi Jeff-- I go along with Kerry on this one- I made the mistake a few years of taking on someone elses repair and ended up paying big time for it-- give it back to the owner and give your regrets along with it..

Best to you on your desssission (spell check) Peace and have a great Christmas and a verry happy new year...

Donald

[Robbie Collins]

If you can find a replacement neck you might ask to keep the old one just so you can experiment on it.

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Jeff.

Excellent advice so far.

+1 on rejecting the job.

I checked with a friend of mine that was a BC Rich dealer.  He told me that BC Rich discontinued that neck design expressly because headstocks were snapping off left & right and there is no known way to restore the structural integrity of any 'fix'.

In other words, this was a design flaw  that even BC Rich considered not worth addressing.

Best of luck,

Paul