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Hi everyone... I'm building a neck-though bass. I will be gluing the FB to the body with Smith All Wood Epoxy before I apply the Teak Oil finish.
I'm looking for ideas for cleaning-up the squeeze out where the FB meets the body... if I were using Titebond or white glue it would be a breeze, but with epoxy I'm concerned about the mess it could make. I'm not filling the walnut. If I just wipe the squeeze out off with a rag it would leave the pores around the FB filled and the rest of the Walnut would be unfilled...

Alcohol? Wax? It seems like wax would screw-up the teak oil... I'm hoping someone will have the solution I'm looking for... Thanks!

Bob Long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Clean up the excess with a large drinking straw and razor blade prior to setting up.

I put masking tape all over the place, anywhere that epoxy might get too. As it squeezes out i scrape the ooze away until it stops seeping, then wait until it hardens and with a chisel pop off any residue. If you do a good job with the tape no epoxy will get on the wood you don't want to contaminate.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

I do the same thing as Jordan. Put the masking tape onto the body overlapping where the fingerboard will sit, position the fingerboard and score round it with an Exacto knife to cut through the tape. Peel off what's under the f'board. Mask the edges of the f'board and the neck. Whatever squeezes out, goes onto masking tape.

Tape...I use it when I glue the FB to the neck. Works like a charm.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Well if it isn't obvious yet.........tape here too I recently taped the purfling edge on my latest rosette to keep the epoxy off of it and th top. Work like a charm.

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I have a related question. I'm about to use epoxy (West System) on a fingerboard for the first time and it would be great to know how you guys approach this entire process. For example, how thick should the adhesive be spread on the fingerboard? Do you secure the truss rod in the channel with silicone, etc.? What do you do to keep glue from getting on the truss rod?

Okay, so that's three questions, not one. Sorry. :-) I've used LMI white glue in the past and I'm just wondering if the steps are the same with epoxy. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

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George :-)

Bob,

In the event that epoxy does somehow migrate despite your best efforts, you could use thinned epoxy and do a wipe of the body, let it dry, then sand it down to wood. That would allow the oil to penetrate and would be as close to the planned finish as you could get, uniformly.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

1. I've been using System 3 with silica thickener. Before adding the thickener, I brush the epoxy thinly on both surfaces. The unthickened epoxy appears to soak into the wood a bit, which presumably makes for a stronger bond. Then I thicken it to about peanut butter and spread thinly on both surfaces again. The epoxy cures so slowly, I have plenty of time to do all this. Then I register the board on the two previously installed pins (which have been cut to about 3/32" protrusion from the neck shaft surface; they remain in the neck), and clamp with spring clamps (mostly along the edges of the board) plus a few cam clamps in the heel area. No caul.

2. No silicone; it isn't necessary, because...

3. I use a strip of wood over my truss rod. It completely covers the rod, so no epoxy can get down in there. On the Allied Lutherie web site, on their truss rod page, it explains the method and rationale behind the wood strip. I'm totally sold on this method.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Like my kids used to say when they were small - "Maybe we can fix it with tape!"

Todd, any particular reason why you use the thickener? Why not use straight epoxy?

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The member formerly known as erikbojerik....

Did anyone else see the recent stew mac trade secrets email, the one where the kid used a lego as a flatpick, and think fondly of their own children?

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

It's my understanding, based on what I've learned from a few different sources, that that's the best way to use epoxy for bonding: wet both surfaces with straight epoxy, then add thickener, re-apply, then clamp, and don't clamp too hard. If I'm not mistaken, the rhyme and reason is that it's a lot easier to inadvertently create a glue-starved joint with epoxy, and the thickener helps prevent that. The bottom line for me, having limited experience with and knowledge of epoxy, is that I'm just following instructions.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thanks to everyone for the input... Michael, I like your idea about the drinking straw... I will certainly try that with titebond.
I guess the masking method seems to be the way to go... I thought there would still be some residue left after the tape comes off.
How soon do you guys take off the tape?

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

The tape doesn't come off until the epoxy has cured. I clean up the squeeze out while its goopy, so that there is only a thin film of cured epoxy left on the tape, which pops right off with a chisel.

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

Thanks, Jordan!

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Todd - Thanks for the help.

Bob - Sorry for the slight hijack.

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George :-)