Broken Floyd Rose saddle on custom built

[Bas Korbee]

Hey guys,

I'm new here, and also to the guitar building world, and am currently working on my first project.

I had nearly finished my custom AX shaped guitar, when I ran into a little 'situation'.

Basically, when I was putting on the Floyd Rose Bridge, the wood around one of the saddles the bridge sat on snapped.
I tried repairing it by sanding away some of the remaining wood, and adding some new wood. Then gluing the new piece in with Epoxy glue, and drilling a new hole, but it wasn't strong enough and eventually sank away.

I really need some help on this, and anything would be greatly appreciated.

[Hans Bezemer]

I think I would try to remove the insert, clear the hole from glue and make again a tight fitting insert and this time use woodglue, this should work.
Is there room to drill out the insert? Then you can put a tight fitting round piece of wood in the hole.

[Bas Korbee]

The insert came out easily as it was lose from the tension brought upon it by the bridge. I will try to insert something new, but is there a reason I should use a piece of round wood as you stated? Also, what kind of wood would you recommend?

[Hans Bezemer]

Of course you can use any shape to fill the gap, but I find it easy to drill out the piece and use a a dowel stick to fill the gap.
You could use the same wood as your guitar body or any harder wood (the dowels I use are made of Beech).

[JC Whitney]

From the picture, it looks like your patch's grain was running perpendicular to the grain of the wood around it. I'd run the grain parallel to the neck to make it harder for the post to split the patch along a grain line. Also, as mentioned above, make sure that your patch fits snugly against the sides and bottom of the hole you prepare for it. Using a dowel in a drilled hole makes this just a case of picking the right size drill bit. Make sure the hole's bottom is flat, and that the dowel rests solidly on the wood beneath. Don't depend on glue/epoxy to fill a ragged void between the patch and body. Get a nice press fit - not so tight that you have to sledge hammer it in, not so loose that your patch wobbles about. From the looks of the surrounding wood and how close it is to adjacent holes, your best bet might be to drill the hole with a sharp forstner bit in a drill press.

Don't forget to post your results so we can see how it comes out.

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

http://fingerlakesguitarrepair.com/fend ... trem-stud/

Though I would like to take credit for this, I can't.

[Bas Korbee]

So, I followed your instructions.

I removed the old patch, and cleaned any left-over glue from the hole. I sanded it back a little to create a flat bottom.
I made a custom patch that would fit snugly in the hole, with it's grain parallel to the neck. For now, I still have to wait for the glue to dry, but once that's done, I'll have to re-drill the hole for the saddle to sit in. Any suggestions on how to do that at home?

Also, you may notice I have sanded the guitar. I really wanted to repaint it.

[Barry Daniels]

That plug does not fit very well. Glue cannot be expected to fill gaps and have any strength. Try again please.

[Chuck Tweedy]

again ... yep

You need to make a template that allows you to cut out a clean, straight and square (relative to the top face) hole. And I'm talking the entire end of that cavity - beyond where we can see to the left.
Full depth.
Then fill that hole with a well fit, clean, straight, square piece of wood.
Don't use Elmers.
And then rout the cavity back into the body where your fill is.
Your post will hold then.

[David King]

This is really a 10 minute job for a milling machine. I don't know how that could be arranged but that's what I would do.