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I am curious as to the downside of using thick CA for gluing braces to the top? The technique I was show uses accelerator and a radius dish. This allows you to set the braces in matter of seconds.

thanks
Richard

If I tried that I'd glue my fingers to..........everything.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Hi-

CA Accelerator will make the glue dry instantly but it weakens the glue - I quit using it for this reason and for the fact that some accelerators are carcinogens. It's nasty stuff, so protect yourself.

I'll let others chime in on why CA will/won't work for gluing braces.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Would probably not allow for much movement with humidity changes no?

It isn't the glue that allows movement in humidity . I guess it would work . But man look at the intense discussion about neck joints . This would be a donnie brook . I know that it has been used by some as an experiment. You don't have limited work time and CA will turn spruce greenish yellow over time. For that reason I wouldn't use it.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I used CA glue for a lot of things in an other hobby and think that it would be too messy and permanent for my liking and will leave marks on the spruce. The nice thing about the titebond and Hide glues is they can be removed if a mistake is made. Using a dish and a go bar deck the normal glues are quick enough and if you have enough go bars a whole top can be braced at one time.

As John said this certainly would started a lively debate, traditionalists won't even consider Titebond type glues.

I now use Hide glue for all bracing and like working with it, though one must be a little quicker.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

A friend of mine who is an excellent luthier built an instrument about 10 years ago and assembled it with CA start to finish except for the neck joint. It took him about 2 days to assemble. It is to this day an excellent example in both structural integrity and tone. Could be considered one of his best. It was an experiment that so far has worked. I probably wouldn't for the coloring reasons but for the back maybe not a bad idea if you're not wanting to wait around.

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"We might not be big but we sure are slow"

I use CA for lots of things, probably more than most but I think it may be a little too brittle for soundboard bracings.

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

We've used CA for our braces on our student project guitars, and it seems to work fine, though I've only 3 years experience with it. With students (beginners), the only issues are keeping the brace still while it sets for 30 sec or so (StewMac 20). This summer, I've built about 10 prototypes with some drops of accelerator along the length -- that makes the process easier. We've also used it for our headstock scarf joint (clamped 2 minutes) and no issues there as long as the joint has a good fit. I've found body assembly to be easier with Titebond, since more working time is needed.

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David Malicky