Official Luthiers Forum!

Joe, Madinter in Spain stock the Lee Valley Fish Glue, I buy mine from Kremer Pigments in Germany http://kremer-pigmente.de/shopint/index.php?cat=0201&lang=ENG&product=63550

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Hey Jim,
I never took it that way. I was glad you mentioned something in fact because an issue regarding adhesives and joinery should not be taken so lightly when it comes to structural integrity. Your questions made me review what I had said and I saw that the way I worded it was in error. Thanks again for steering me straight on that one.



Ken,
I'm not sure I agree that wiping the joint with acetone hurts the joint. What do you base that on? I work with a lot of cocobolo, teak and other oily woods and in fact I've found that wiping it immediately before glue up is definitely beneficial to a stronger joint. Wiping it with Naphtha or Mineral Spirits may hurt the joint as they evaporate at a much slower rate but Acetone flashes off almost immediately. I go to an extreme with this and once I've thinned the plates to jointing thickness I then wipe them many times all over with Acetone on both sides and edges frequently changing cloths. Once it gets to where the cloths don't pick up as much oil from the plates I then plane and wipe the edges followed by immediate glue up. After glue up I allow it to set for several days. This seems to produce maximum joint strength. It is probably overkill but it makes me feel good. I use this technique for every oily wood that I use whether in guitars or furniture. It also helps to cut back on the bleeding problem with many darker woods (though not all together). In reality, epoxy is probably the strongest joint adhesive for cocobolo second only to TiteBond III but I try to minimize the use of epoxy in my shop and TiteBond III is one that many master luthiers have recommended against so I've never even tried it on a guitar. I typically use this on outdoor furniture.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!