broken heel advice ...

[Adrian Levi]

I have this carved German that I recently acquired with a broken heel .

I'm not quite sure how to approach this repair for a couple of reasons .
Firstly when I sit the neck into the mortise it sits flush on the neck block and visually lines up with the end of the heel that is still glued to the bass .
But if you see the pics the remaining piece of heel is not glued onto the neck block as there is a +- 2mm gap. I have managed to soften and remove as much Gorilla glue as possible ( as this is obviously a failed repair ).
I can get a blade underneath the remaining piece of heel and get it to touch the button , so the remaining heel is glued to the button and the sides only !

Hopefully the pics will give a clearer idea.
Any insight or advice would be great thanks ....

[Arnold Schnitzer]

1) Get the remaining piece out of the mortise.
2) True-up and reattach it to the rest of the neck.
3) Reinforce this somehow.
4) Clean out and true-up the entire mortise.
5) Re-fit the neck into the mortise, making sure the pitch and lateral angles are correct.
6) Glue in with hot hide glue and clamps.

[Ken Smith]

Looks too clean to be a break. I think that heel was made in two pieces and the poor quality fit and joints just failed. Most glues are not very good gap fillers. Poor fit necks and blocks are bound to fail and the usually do.

As Arnold said, get it to fit right and re-glue as instructed. The fit is the key to success here, and not just the glue.

[Adrian Levi]

Arnold , Ken , thanks for the replies .

I think that Ken is right , that break is too clean to be caused by force !

One more question , what would the best method be to remove the left over heel piece , bearing in mind that it is glued onto the mortise sides and button but not onto the neck block itself and with white Gorilla type wood glue ?

[Arnold Schnitzer]

You need to patiently work a sharp seam-opening knife into the seams until it all comes loose. Dripping in a little grain alcohol may help. If the glue is really tough, heating the knife may be necessary. (You might want to be careful using a hot knife around alcohol.) You could also try injecting steam if all else fails. If none of this works, chisel out the remaining piece bit by bit, and then clean out all the glue, and any wood/glue left on the button. Then you can make a new piece to add onto the neck.

[Adrian Levi]

Great advice everyone thanks / Wayne the 'hook' type tool idea is an interesting one ! I'll start the work in a weeks time and maybe post on the progress !!

[Adrian Levi]

Wayne I will definitely consider these options and fully research them and ask plenty questions and then decide .
My first task is to remove the heel piece very carefully and then re glue it to the neck and then reinforce the heel
( Oak dowel or lag screw hidden under the button , hmm )

[Matthew Tucker]

I have just been setting up a half size student bass with what looks like a clean varnish crack right around the heel in exactly the same position, but the whole heel is still well glued into the mortise. It is not broken yet and not worth pulling the neck out of this bass, but as a preventative measure I fitted a 12mm hardwood dowel through the back of the button right through and into the thicker parts of the heel.

I think these neck blocks must be built up out of multiple timbers, probably not dry enough.