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Thinking to use low odour CA pore fill for a Wenge neck.
Thin/Med/thick?
How much am I likely to need for 1 neck? I can get 20ml or 50ml

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I'd get the 50 ml.

I've only done it on Sapele so far.

For viscosity I used all 3. For me it was a trade off. The thick builds faster but I had more trouble dealing with ridges to scrape or sand out.

If I could only use one, I'd get medium.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

What CA brand are you planning on using?

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"I've been had again"
Tim Benware
Creedmoor, NC

I have only experimented with thin (StewMac #10) on scrap but I am so sensitive to the stuff that I can't imagine doing a complete neck (or guitar). In my little test I felt that finishing resin (Zpoxy) did a better job of popping grain than the CA, but CA was much better than paste fillers.

Until you know you aren't sensitive, I seriously recommend wearing a respirator.

Repairing guitar cracks with thin ca glue on Brazilian rosewood to fix invisible micro cracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzSaxfhPpFI

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2P-10 as an option?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J10kGYcdMzg

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CA seems to be becoming more of an irritant to me. There was a time that I barely noticed the smell, now it really bothers my eyes if I use it on any moderately large surface area. I'm concerned that it may be getting worse for me so I have begun to limit my use of it (so that I can continue to use it longer). I would recommend that, even if you aren't sensitive, you use a respirator if you are going to be spreading it around for pore fill or similar. Just my thoughts.

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I use a respirator as it causes a bad sinus condition for a few days...

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Starloc https://glueshop_com.14.ekm.shop/

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I used so far Star Bond medium CA. It used surprisingly less then I thought on an 000 in wenge. I have a breezeway garage and use a strong fan to blow across the workbench and have had no issues with fumes. You definitely need adequate ventilation. It works amazingly well and has the extra added benefit of strengthening crack prone wood like wenge or BRW.

At £55.71 for 8 oz in UK not a chance.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Hopefully the video might give you a couple options - didn't mean to imply you buy that product...

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Thank You and Best To All

I’ve done a fair amount of pore filling with CA. I would go with the thick stuff. Use a single razor blade as a spreader (round the corners) and work in small sections. For a neck I just folded up wax paper to use as a spreader. Wear thick rubber gloves. They will get glue on them so be careful.
I always used a full face respirator then left the shop once done. The fumes can be really bad when done.
With Wenge, you’ll probably need up to 3 sessions. Sand back pretty much to wood each time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

With all the comments I've seen in this thread and others on CA fumes and sensitivity, what is the advantage of using CA as pore filler that makes it worth using?

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Well, I mentioned one 'off label' advantage for such woods as wenge and BRW that are crack prone. CA is a glue after all and it really soaks in good so I think it tightens up the fibers and infiltrates any micro cracks shoring them up.

Other then that for one thing it's super fast to do the pore fill job, it's crystal clear and doesn't alter color, it doesn't shrink back... to name a few.

And if you take the precautions it's not any worse, in fact it's no were near as worse, as spraying nitro or other finishes.

As to Jay's question, speed is the only advantage imo. You can pore fill a neck in half an hour and be done with it.
I've used thin, just rub it in, virtually no sanding or scraping any ridges. Haven't filled any Wenge but I bet it wouldn't
be much more difficult. ymmv. Try it on an offcut and see how it goes. You may need several passes.
Also +1 to what JF said about crack prone wood.

I like to start with thin to penetrate the wood as much as posible, but keep in mind on very porous woods it might show on the inside. Then I follow with medium or just stay with thin if it is a small pored wood.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

GluBoost has three products specifically focused on filling both dings and raw wood - Fill N' Finish Pro Formula (a medium viscocity CA), Fill N' Finish Pro Formula Thin, and Fill N' Finish Pro Formula Black (a medium CA with black tint). All have a slower cure to allow the material to be worked into the pores, and can be accelerated with GluBoost - our preferred kicker - or other CA accelerants. We generally use either epoxy or tinted paste wood filler for most fill work, but do enough quick, smaller repairs to have tried other CAs as well as the GluBoost line.

A full face mask and good cross ventilation is a must for this work...with the exception of the BSI CA Gold formulas, just about all CAs are noticeable irritants for the people working in this shop.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

I did a whole plate in a few sessions in the outside part of my shop holding my breath for each. Also had a fan going iirc. Worked great! Thin CA.

New username, same Pat Mac

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Pat

I've been considering pore filling a spalted sycamore back and sides with C/A. I haven't used it for this before and I just ordered 4oz. of Hobby brand medium. Do any of you about how much I will need. I plan on spraying nitro over this after sanding.

Mike,
Sycamore is a closed pore wood so you won't need any CA for pore filling. If the spalt is bad in any areas the CA will solidify and fill the wood for finishing. CA will stain light colored woods so be sure to seal with shellac prior to the application.

If you were pore filling mahogany or a rosewood, you would use about a half of an ounce of medium CA. Wenge or red oak can take 2 to 3 times that. The best way to pore fill with CA is to use a downdraft sanding table. Squeeze out a nickel sized puddle on the surface and then spread it around with an old credit card pushing it into the pores at a 45 degree angle to the pores. Flex the card to push the glue into the pores and stand it on edge as a scraper to move the CA to the next area. Keep paper towels and acetone close by to keep the card clean. Do not push big puddles near the edges as drips over the side will cause extra work. Wear nitrile gloves and work the CA into the pores on the neck with a finger. Keep moving as glove pieces don't sand out easily. Did I mention to use a downdraft sanding table? Yes I did. Know why? Because it works better than anything else to keep the fumes at bay. If you get hit with 2 square feet of CA kicking off at once you'll be amazed at how much mucus, tears and saliva your face can produce.

Grizzly Industrial Super Gold CA is odorless and works well. Super Gold is the thin variety and fills faster than the thicker Super Gold+ because it wicks into the pores more efficiently. I use a wash coat of shellac followed by 2-3 coats of CA spread with old plastic card keys. A time-saving step for filling backs is to do the fill when the joined backs with center inlay are leveled but at full thickness and still rigid. You can sand with a drum sander and/or palm sander back to the wood much faster in this state compared to later when it's domed.

Continuing from above... For necks, I probably use less than 1/5 of a 2 oz. bottle for the entire job. On a gloved hand, I overlap a couple of pieces of blue tape on the tip of my index finger and use that to spread into the pores.

Never tried it but will and thanks for the tip.

Probably the same as Bob Smith Industries Super Gold as it's rebranded and sold in hobby stores etc.

https://www.amazon.com/d/Super-Glue-Cya ... s=bsi+glue

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