Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello All!
I'm hoping to use some Ablam on a rosette and have a few questions. First of all, can you break it into a radius that tight? I've been messing with it and it seems like it would work. The material is .068 wide by .061 thick. I''m hoping to do a BWB/Ablam/BWB on either side of a wood ring. Do I need touse a Teflon strip? Hopefully not because I don't have any. How much can Ablam be surface sanded? Does it loose anything the deeper you sand?

Any tips on using the stuff would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Best of the Season
Danny

this is actually a great product . I use a piece of bone saddle to help break it . The trick is to find that sweet angle that helps to break the ablam and still control it. I use white glue or tite bond , then only do a few inches at a time . I use a sharpened nail so I can probe the ablam where I need to as sometimes you will have to push the pieces back into themselves to tighten up openings .
Also use a wet paper towel to wipe off excess glue but go across the pearl not in line with it . Once you do a few inches you will get this figured out , it isn't that hard and it does work pretty well .
As for gaps and holes , this does have actual paua as the veneer so expect to see some of that . Once the glue dries and you sand flush you can drop fill with med or thick CA , let dry and sand flush and polish. Try not to get the CA on the spruce as it may turn it yellow and don't use activator .
hope this helps ya

_________________
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

Thanks for that John! I just built a fox Bender and get to try out the blanket and SS slats I got from you a while back. I'm looking forward to it with hopefully good results.

Merry Christmas!

Danny,
I don't think John answered the question about the Teflon, but I don't know how you would do it without using the Teflon strip. When you pull the Teflon out, it leaves a perfect channel to press the Ablam into. Some people do it with only CA glue. You have to use caution and not get it on the spruce. Once you fill the gaps, you cannot see where you broke it. You don't have to use curved pieces for the rosette. Straight Ablam will work fine. I cut mine from a sheet with a small saw. It's not that hard. Use a nail or a scribe to press it into the channel. Sand and polish afterwards.


Mike R.