Official Luthiers Forum!

So, I've got some fish glue and used it for the first time today. It says on the bottle:

flussig

für hochfeste elastische Verklebungen, als Verzögerer für Gips, wasserverdünnbar. Haltbarkeit: Ca. 1 Jahr nach Abfülldatum. Abfülldatum: 14.02.2008

I'm guessing that it's shelf life will be up in Feb 2009. But what about the rest? (it's all Greek to me!) What's the normal 'open' time, 'handling' time (when can you take the clamps off? until somebody tells me different, I'm leaving 'em on till tomorrow) and full strength time. And should I keep it in the fridge.....and is the Abfülldatum really crucial?

Arnt ?....Colin?.... are you there?

Dave.

Hi Dave - I use Fish glue and it's great.

I get mine from David Collins and he replaces his batch (me too) annually. For open time I think that you have about an hour but I treat it as if 20 minutes is it. I leave things clamped overnight when using FG and I store mine in the fridge as well. Be sure to label it well because it looks just like peanut butter........

Clamp time really depends on the wood. I once did some test pieces of spruce on spruce at about 65 degress F and 45% RH and there was no creep after only 20 minutes of clamping. On rosewood, it takes much longer.

Laminate some test pieces bent into a radius dish. Take the clamps off at various times and check for creep/springback.

As for open time, all I can say is that it is longer than other woodworking glues like titebond.

_________________
http://www.chassonguitars.com

I leave it clamped for 12 hours or overnight, whichever is longest. My German is rusty, but I believe Abfülldatum is the date the glue was bottled, and Haltbarkeit: Ca. 1 Jahr nach Abfülldatum means it can be used for one year after that. I keep the glue bottle in the shop, no fridge.

What brand is your fish glue? I use the Lee Valley variety, I really don't know if other brands behave differently from that.

_________________
Rian Gitar og Mandolin

It translates to:-

"for high-strength flexible gluings, as timers for gypsum, water dilutable. Durability: Approx. 1 year after date of racking. Date of racking: 14.02.2008"

Yahoo Babel Fish is a good tip for help on transations like this. hope that helps.

_________________
Regards Philip

Thank you all for the quick replies.

Arnt, I got the glue from Kremer Pigmente in Germany.

http://www.kremer-pigmente.de/shopint/i ... duct=63550

Colin S told me about it and I've just been and had another look at their site (which I should have done before asking dumb questions ). There's a whole load of info. in PDF files. They say on the web site that it's shelf life is 5 years but on the bottle that it's only one. On one of the PDF files it says it comes from Canada so it might even be the same stuff as Lee Valley.

www.norlandprod.com
Thisis where it comes from!

Mike

_________________
Mike Collins

Yup, ditto on the labeling thing. The thing is is that it doesn't taste like peanut butter and I'm no longer allowed to use the kitchen refrigerator for glue storage....

_________________
Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC