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Hmm, thats not at all what I meant.

Todd, Please don't speak for me.

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Well played, sir...very well played indeed!

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I'm just about finished my first guitar using HHG (2nd guitar). This thread has got me questioning my method a little. Time will tell if it's a problem.

I didn't have a scale to measure accurately with, so I just mixed by volume to Lee Valley's numbers (I got the glue from them). When it came time to use it, I brought it up to temp in a rival hot pot. I keep the glue in a baby food jar. From the get go, I found the glue to be too thick to use, so I just thinned it by mixing water from the hot pot into the glue until it seemed to be the right consistency from everything I've read.

I found it necessary to do this a few times over the course of an hour or two as I glued braces on. Does anyone else do it this way, or should I be using something that will keep the moisture in the glue from evaporating as I work? I did at times rest the lid on the jar to slow down the evaporation, but that didn't stop it entirely.

I may end up trying the squeeze bottle method next anyway, but I really didn't mind playing with it a little to find the right consistency. It almost felt a little 'old school'. I just don't want to do that again if those with greater experience than me would advise against it.

Thanks.

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-Clint Beacock

Clint...if the viscosity ended up being around that of Titebond and it didn't gel before joining you'll probably be fine.

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

Clint buddy two things are happening when using HHG from a wider mouthed, uncovered container if floating it in a water bath.

First there is the possibility of evaporation as you mentioned. But second the glue may not be at the same temp as the water bath because of the open container and the cooling that is happening.

Just recently I had this demonstrated to me where the glue was in a baby food jar, uncovered and the jar was in a water bath. The water temp was 155ish and the glue was less than 145ish. So from this example you can see that if the water was 145ish the glue could be 10 or more degrees cooler in the open jar.

One can either measure the glue temp and increase the water temp until the glue is the desired temp or try covering the jar. For the squeeze bottles the temp disparity is less because they are not wide open to the cooler air and evaporation slows too.

Adding water to the glue to unjell (is that a word) may be problematic because you may not just be replacing evaporation. Instead the hotter water that you added is heating the glue but also diluting the original mix ratio.

The real point is that jars, open or not, bottles, what ever can be fine so long as you test the actual glue temp too and adjust the water temp, if need be, accordingly.

Thanks for your replies, guys.

Todd, correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume the distilled water is to avoid the risk of the minerals in tap water contaminating the glue. I have a bunch of 'natural spring water' bottles at home. Is this the same. The last thing I have to do on this guitar is glue the bridge on, and I'd like to do what I can to make sure it stays there. I'll probably buy myself a little scale as well to get me in the right ballpark for consistency right off the bat.

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-Clint Beacock

Nope, not the same thing. Distilled has been converted to steam and recollected in liquid form. Natural spring water is supposed to taste good because of the minerals in it, and is not treated like city water. Here's the info from Poland Spring website on their spring water:

Poland Spring® Natural Spring Water — Mineral content analysis

Inorganic Minerals and Metals MRL MCL Level Found
Calcium 0.10 NR 4.4-7.7
Sodium 0.20 NR 3.9-7.4
Potassium 0.10 NR 0.65-1.0
Fluoride 0.100 2.0 (1.4-2.4) 0.11-0.12
Magnesium 0.10 NR 0.91-1.2
Bicarbonate 1.0 NR 6.7-20
Nitrate 0.010 10.00 0.22-0.85
Chloride 1.10 250 5.5-13
Copper 0.050 1.0 ND
pH (units) NA NA 5.72-6.68
Sulfate 0.10 250 2.0-5.8
Arsenic 0.0014 0.010 ND
Lead 0.005 0.005 ND
Total Dissolved Solids 1.0 NR 35-46
All units in (mg/l) or Parts per Million (PPM)

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Evan McCartney

Dunno if this a help or hindrance, but when I cleaned out the bottle I used for my hide glue, as I work in the loft and there isn't any drainage connections I just filled the glue pot with water gave it a good old slosh around and tipped the waste into another empty container, and tied a sample joint with it and believe it or not after about a week that slosh trial joint set as solid as any other hide joint I've tried to break, so to me it seems time adds a major factor when approaching this product

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

Reading thru this post has me wondering how those poor ancient Egyptians ever coped with all these problems. Think about it. No bottled water, no Rival crock pots, no digital thermometers, no hair dryers. Geez you'd think they would have switched to Titebond or LMI white. I think the problem here is you guys are all too young. When I was in high school in the late 50's it was a lot like Waddy said. Plug the pot in, leave it on all day, add a little water when needed and just glue. Never gave it a thought 'cause it was the only glue we had.

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Hey Fonzi!...You got any pics of your High School days?

Seriously...as always, you seem to nail the right perspective.

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

Thanks again for your replies. Very much appreciated. What you're saying doesn't sound too far off from what I've been doing, Todd. I guess I just get nervous when trying new things, nightmares of guitars pulling open and such.

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-Clint Beacock

Tanex are sending me a sample be interesting to compare.

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes