so this happened....

So, the strap broke on my hard case, dumping it on the floor, when I opened it, this had happened to my 8 string kala tenor. I can't afford to pay a Luthier to fix this, and in any case have been warned away from the ones in my area. How do I go about fixing it. Obviously I will remove the tuners before I glue it, and use a good wood glue, but do I use a Pva glue, or something harder like cascamite? Or others have suggested epoxy? What do?

Caution with DIY !!!! most luthiers wont touch that repair if you have had a go at it youself and it fails again due to the fact that its very difficult to fix with old glue in the joint...Most luthier web sites I've seen, use a Strong epoxy on that type of repair.

Ouch. I think I'd try to find a competent repair person for that one. They may already have a jig that allows them to clamp the neck down, align everything, then apply pressure to the end of the headstock so that everything goes back pretty much where it was.
If the details of aligning or removing little splinters and fuzzy bits are done right, the repair can be nearly invisible.
Also, you may want to visit Frank Ford's Frets.com and read what he has to say on cases and so forth. I have a wedge of rigid foam covered in felt underneath the headstock in my hard case.

If you do it yourself, do it in a way that allows you one or more dry runs before applying the glue and clamping it down.

Looks like a clean break that should glue up ok. The tricky part will be clamping it. If you can figure out a way to hold the uke body/neck and the headstock piece in a way that it won't slide apart while gluing, then it should be a good repair. You have lots of wood surface so regular TiteBond should work fine.

Not a real easy fix, especially since it goes through the tuner holes. Alignment is critical.That's one of the few repairs that I use epoxy on, and only a good epoxy like West System. If it is not a totally clean break that fits together perfectly, epoxy is needed to fill the gaps. Often, if not almost always, I would also use a wood or carbon fiber reinforcement across a headstock repair. The advice of finding a competent repairperson is good advice. It won't be cheap! A good repairperson will generally not do the job unless they are allowed to do the finish repair too, so that takes time. If you are looking for just a hack job, and no finish work, a competent repairperson probably won't do the work. You are probably looking at $150.00+ in terms of a repair bill. All that said, it is an off the shelf uke that can be replaced, so if you have some experience, it is not impossible to do it yourself. Like was stated earlier, alignment is the key issue. Do some dry runs, and then when you have a perfect fit, you can drill a couple of small holes to insert wood pins, toothpick size, that will minimize the sliding when the glue and clamps are applied. Some time spent searching the web should turn up some guidelines. If you enjoy the repair process, this might start you on a luthierie tear! Good luck with the repair.

Timbuck said:

Caution with DIY !!!! most luthiers wont touch that repair if you have had a go at it youself and it fails again due to the fact that its very difficult to fix with old glue in the joint...Most luthier web sites I've seen, use a Strong epoxy on that type of repair.

Click to expand...

yep- buy some good 30 min epoxy. Beware of is all slipping though.

This looks deceptively easy to fix. An experienced person could do it with little trouble. Have to remove tuners (as you said), remove any loose splinters in the break, and line it up. Be sure it fits together perfectly. I'd use wood glue, but if Beau or Ken tell you epoxy, that's great. It is really the right choice, but I don't use it where it will come in contact with the finish.
If it was me, I'd disassemble the tuner assembly on the string#1 side and re-mount just the gang-plate. Using the screws will help you keep the glue joint aligned on that side. (You may need a longer screw to replace the one closest the nut, because the hole's been stripped out.) Too bad the string#8 side doesn't have this advantage. Without said advantage, I would line it all up, with the one gang-plate with all screws installed, and drill from the back, somewhere near the center of the break at the other (string#8) side of the headstock. Not all the way through (save the front) using a bit just the right size to slide in a small brad or nail. Now I'd have a way to keep my glue joint from sliding during clamping and glue-drying. Remove the screw, apply the glue, align the broken parts, re-install the screw, lube the brad with vaseline and insert it into the hole, and clamp (clean up squeeze-out as needed). After appropriate drying time, remove the clamps, pull the brad out, remove the tuner gang-plate, and re-assemble. After stringing it up, I might do some bit of filling and finish repair on the little hole in the back, but probably not, because I would probably be throwing the ukulele in the garbage and kicking myself for not taking it to a professional. (and I've done hundreds of these sort of repairs.)

Many thanks to you all for the sage advice. However I am too poor to take it to any Luthier worth his salt in this town, so have decided to glue it myself. after taking the tuners off I have found the two halves fit together perfectly with no loose splinters or pieces unaccounted for, in fact it sits together flush with only a slight butress of finish to let you know it was broken in the first place. This butress should help me align it perfectly in fact. #some luck # finish I can't really care about on my budget or time schedule. The a hole I will risk gluing up and drilling out, no bother if I don't get round to that either, I don't think the tuners will miss one screw out of eight. Back to my original question, will cascamite, also known as polymite resin do the job? I'm guessing it will as it is a powder resin wood glue, with gap filling properties, but has anyone had any experience with it? Thanks again for your cromulent replies.

The question no one has asked is what do you have for equipment and experience? I have done about a hundred of these 'clean break' headstock repairs, mostly on guitars, over the last 20 years without any failures, but you need enough and the right kind of clamps, the ability to make some cauls, and the experience to know how much pressure you need to apply and where to apply it. Without knowing more about you and your circumstances it is hard to give useful advice. With a fresh, clean break like that I would not mess with epoxy or any resin, Titebond (original) or hide glue will be plenty strong. If the repair being visible is not an issue there are simpler ways to accomplish it. As to your original question, why use a gap filling glue if there are no gaps to fill?

I am NOT a repair type person, but will weigh in nonetheless. It seems like a pretty clean break and if you could figure out a clamping/caul set-up this is repairable I would think. However, what I did want to say is that maybe this situation has to do with an inherent weakness in design of an 8 string uke/peghead and not enough wood there to take the stress. This is not meant as a knock on the builder, but perhaps a weakness inherent in the underlying design? I'm not sure how else you could do it, but this peghead looks fragile and it failed. Not necessary the fault of the luthier, but the owner needs to treat such a design with care.

Cascamite will do the job with aplomb. It's a seriously strong glue. . . . . . . but with one rather serious drawback: it has no known solvent. Best to get the 'joint' right the first time when using such glue.
On an instrument of value I would always use Hide glue, it's just more forgiving and usually results in very tight, more invisible glue lines. It's certainly strong enough for breaks of this nature if you know how to use it.
Any of the regular glues should work. As others have stated, this is more about alignment and clamping - that's where all the repair time should be focused.

If you go to http://frets.com/FretsPages/pagelist.html#Luthier
and scroll down to Broken Headstocks, there are a number of photoessays on various headstock repairs.
If you're going to DIY, you should probably look through those to get some ideas on how to clamp it.
Frank Ford's weapon of choice for glues seems to be hot hide glue.

The alignment and clamping shouldn't be a problem down to the break and both sides of the area around the break being flat and parallel. Cascamite has a two hour tack time so should allow plenty of alignment and clean up before I have to clamp it. Thanks again to all you guys, I'll post pictures when it's done, and also start a thread on my first uke build I'll be starting next week.

If you do decide to have a luthier to it, I used Portland Fretworks. They were fantastic. Quick, kept in touch, and made the repair with no noticeable marks. Looked like new.