Pine body cracks, to fill or not to fill?

In advance, yes, I have done some searches on this but haven't come up with much specific to my situation.

I'm a guitar-buildin' newbie slapping together my very first Partscaster. I want this first build to be kind of purposely ugly and garage-tastic, definitely a lazy rattle-can travesty that no one but me could ever love. I'm carefully studying the finish forum / doing my larnin' on how the pros and responsible folks *really* do it in the meantime... but right now, I'm going for "as fast 'n' cheap 'n' nasty as possible" on purpose.

I bought an unfinished pine body with lots of knots in it. It passes the tap test wonderfully, but there are a few knots and cracks that concern me a little from a structural-integrity perspective.

http://lossfoundation.com/img/pine1.jpg

http://lossfoundation.com/img/pine2.jpg

http://lossfoundation.com/img/pine3.jpg

I see a lot of folks building Pinecasters here that have crazier things going on with their chosen bodies. Seems many folks choose to seal up stuff like this with epoxy or some other sealant, but this seems to be final-finish motivated rather than anything to do with sonics or longevity.

As already stated, I could care less about imperfections in the final finish, and I even think it would be cool to have some of these natural warts proudly shinin' through the "finish" job that I have planned. But I *do* want the body to hold together and *not* crack any further.

I am not experienced enough with wood nor with instrument-building to know if I really have any grounds for concern here.

All this in mind, should I bother sealing these up or should I be safe to leave them as is? And if I *do* need to seal them, is there something other than epoxy that I should be considering for the job?

Occasionally a knot will shrink and pop out. Those look pretty solid. You can fill them with superglue and dark sawdust or dark plastic wood unless you like the cracks for some reason. You can do this after a coat of sealer/finish too if you don't want to contaminate the wood with the glue or filler.

Thanks, Guitarbuilder. Appreciate the advice. (Would have thanked you earlier but I guess I forgot to subscribe to the thread.)

I am most definitely not one of the gurus on here, but I have had great results with Z-Poxy.

lot's of people have, i've heard. I've personally never used z-poxy, but you could try it. It's really cosmetics that it depends on.

I'd fill with epoxy, it'll make sure the knot doesn't loosen any.

I'd fill with epoxy, it'll make sure the knot doesn't loosen any.

That might be a good idea.

I'd fill with epoxy, it'll make sure the knot doesn't loosen any.


I don't think there are any guarantees with any materials that movement will cease. I've seen filled knots shrink and swell like dowels because of the differing grain directions. The superglue will fill in the minute crevices through capillary action in the smallest of opening where the epoxy may not, assuming you apply enough.

This is one of those 6 of one,or half dozen of another.In most cases they are plastic of one type or another. It pretty much comes down to personal preference.