Tape to repair case

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

I have a black 70s-80s Guild case with torn tolex (is that what it is?) around edge of the lid and the edge of the bottom. What should I use to cover the rips and join the pieces together? Electrician's tape? Vinyl tape? Duct tape? It needs to be only about an inch wide.

Somebody put too much tape on it, and it was falling off, so I took the old tape off, but it left a white gooey sticky residue behind. What should I use to take it off? Acetone?

 

[gilded]

I think you can use a few things to take it off. I'll find out some stuff to use from my luthier.

Whatever you use, make sure you have good ventilation and wear rubber gloves when you apply it. I'm not kidding about that, DH. A lot of that stuff has solvents in it and you don't want your buddy absorbing it.

gilded

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

make sure you have good ventilation and wear rubber gloves when you apply it. I'm not kidding about that, DH. A lot of that stuff has solvents in it and you don't want your buddy absorbing it.

Absolutely. I try to keep the home and car toxicity level to a minimum. An organic way to kill weeds is with pool acid, but you want to open the bottles outside so you don't breathe the fumes, and wear protection because it will burn your skin. You can also prevent new weeds by sprinkling corn gluten powder. I also use diatomaceous earth to kill insects around my fruit trees. For fertilizer, I use my old lecture notes.

 

[Jeff]

I've had some success gluing torn tolex (?) on cases. Gilded sold me a nice old case in Arlington last year & it got pretty beat up coming thru luggage handling.

I used Elmers to glue the tattered pieces in place, kept massaging the project till the glue tacked up enough to hold things & mold smooth. Used a black felt tip pen & shoe polish on the frayed edges, made a world of difference.

I used paint thinner, moderately, on the white tape residue.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

Jeff,

Would acetone mar the covering more than paint thinner would?

The felt pen and shoe polish sounds like a great idea. Am I correct in assuming the felt pen is for the wood, and the shoe polish is for the covering?

dh

 

[john_kidder]

I buy Tolex from Stew-Mac and use regular contact cement. Easy-peasy.

 

[Graham]

I also use diatomaceous earth to kill insects around my fruit trees. For fertilizer, I use my old lecture notes.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[john_kidder]

You can also prevent new weeds by sprinkling corn gluten powder.

Tell us more?

Inquiring minds, etc.

 

[Jeff]

Jeff,

Would acetone mar the covering more than paint thinner would?

Darryl,

Dunno bout acetone, might simply disolve the Tolex??? Had the paint thinner not done the job I'd a likely moved up to laquer thinner. Laquer thinner is a great solvent, might eat tolex too??, should wear rubber gloves & avoid the chemical DT's.

Felt tip covered most of the ugly, I used can of black Kiwi to polish up the final result.

 

[Dr. Spivey]

Darryl,

You need to use a product called Goo Gone, to remove the sticky residue. It is made from citrus oils, and won't harm the case. Sometimes it can leave an oily residue of its own, easily removed with rubbing alcohol.

When I got my D40, the case was covered with stickers. I peeled them off, using a hair dryer to assist on the stubborn ones. Goo Gone removed every bit of the sticky stuff.

 

[Scratch]

Dang! This is good stuff. I learn something every day hanging around these parts...

 

[fronobulax]

I have found the tape that is sold to "repair" book bindings has widespread applications besides books. "Library tape"? I have not researched the associated chemistry but my going in assumption would be that the library tape is safe for a case repair.

 

[GardMan]

I did some similar repairs to the case for my "new" D-50 this past weekend... the "tolex (?)" covering had pulled up in several seams. In some cases, it was only 1/2" or so, others covered areas of several inches square.

One thing to be aware... many contact cements ARE acetone-based. The one I used certainly was, and it did soften the tolex a bit. But not so much that it caused a problem.

I gently teased the loose edges of the tolex up until I was back to what I considered "firm" attachment, I applied glue to both surfaces. Let it get tacky for 30' or so, then smoothed it down with my fingers. Seemed to be fine, once it fully set.

In my case, there was a layer of gauze-like material between the tolex and the wood. Don't know if this was some old adhesive strip used to attach the tolex to the wood, or what? Some of the areas, I had to first cement this gauze material back to the wood, and then cement the tolex.

I used a black "Sharpie" pen to black out a few small dings thru the covering. Case looks great now.
Dave

 

[cjd-player]

+1 on the Goo Gone.

Aetone is a very powerful solvent and will attack many materials.

Even the fumes can haze a shiny surface.

 

[Darryl Hattenhauer]

John,

For tolex/vinyl, do you use this stuff? IF so, can you cut it evenly into strips one inch wide?
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Accessories ... ering.html

corn gluten powder:
http://www.google.com/search?q=corn+glu ... urceid=ie7


Y'all,

Goo Gone seems the least toxic and least prone to digesting the tolex/vinyl, so I think I'll try that first. If need be, I can follow up with the harder stuff.
Goo Gone
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe ... 22&aqi=g10

Similar to "Goo Gone" is "Goof-Off Remover," which I'll try in class:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe ... oq=&aqi=g1

Book Binding tape: I'll check into this.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe ... =&aqi=g-m1

Acetone: Thanks everybody for steering me clear of this stuff.

Glue: Looks like good old Elmer's for me. And I do mean good. It's a tasty low-cal substitute for mustard.

 

[taabru45]

I hear that Gorilla tape is almost permenant. I've also used marine goop..acetone in it but when it dries, its very tough..Very strong stuff. :wink: Steffan

 

[fronobulax]

Glue: Looks like good old Elmer's for me. And I do mean good. It's a tasty low-cal substitute for mustard.

Why? When I want something that "sticks to my ribs" or the roof of my mouth, I find peanut butter to be quite adequate. And does mustard have calories, at least in "normal" serving sizes? :wink: