Repair of a Martin DJr-10E Streetmaster guitar, the bridge of which was lifting.
Between December 7-8 2025, The richlite bridge was successfully and cleanly removed, with only minimal (cosmetic) damage to the finish of the top. Heat from a clothes iron, applied to the bridge, and putty and exacto knives, were used to cleanly pry off the bridge.
On December 8 2025, a chisel and sandpaper were used to prepare the surface of the top for regluing of the bridge. Old glue and residual richlite from the bridge were chiseled off, and then the surface was sanded smooth. Finally the surface was scored to help in the re-gluing process by providing an increased surface area.
On December 8 2025, the bridge was prepared for re-gluing by chiselling off old glue and then sanding the surface smooth. Finally, the bridge was scored as well.
Over the winter, between 8 December 2025 and 9 January 2026, a set of cauls and clamps to aid in re-gluing of the bridge were designed in FreeCAD and 3D printed. I am open-sourcing my 3D model using Github. The FreeCAD files can be found here.
On January 9 2026, parts of the top were dampened using a wet paper towel, heat was applied using a clothes iron while pressing down, and finally the top was clamped using the 3D printed cauls, in an attempt to reduce the belly bulge.
On January 10 2026, the cauls were removed, and since there was no noticeable bulge at the bridge area, it was decided to proceed with re-gluing (and ignore the slight remaining bulge behind the bridge). The guitar was kept in a heated room overnight to dry the remaining excess moisture.
January 11 2026. The bridge area has been masked and all surfaces prepared for re-gluing.
On January 11, 2026, the bridge was re-glued using Fevicol SH by Pidilite, at ~17:15.
On January 12 2026, the clamps were removed and the guitar was restrung.
Success!