Official Luthiers Forum!

A few questions for those of you using System Three SilverTip for pore fill.

Are you thickening with Cab-O-Sil?

Where are you getting it?

Are you using the slow or fast hardener?

Hey James,

No on Cab-o-sil

I personally buy mine at Edensaw woods, But on-line works too.

Fast Hardener.

Best, M

No silicone thickener for me. I probably bought the Silver Tip on eBay. I use the fast hardener, too.

I think I remember Jay Lichty recommending against using Cab-o-sil in his EM6000 finishing video. Unfortunately, the video is no longer available on his web site so I can't check that. Anyone here remember one way or the other about that?

Michael - Do you remember if John Greven said he was still using it when he gave his presentation to the Seattle Luthiers Group?

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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

The Jay Lichty video is still available, but now you have to pay for it at Robbie O'Brien's website.

It really is a great video. I have not paid for it, because I watched it umpteen times when it was free. But I might pay for it at some point. It's quite the resource.

Thanks, everyone!

I actually have the Lichty video saved in my luthiers playlist on YouTube. It’s still alive and active: https://youtu.be/FXr9jYoikcA

I’ve been using Z-Poxy since #1 and without issue (and also really like the way it pops figure), but SilverTip definitely seems to be the best practice with Enduro-Var from reading through the threads last night.


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Thanks for the link! Much appreciated.

At 17:10 in the video, he added a banner that says he no longer uses silica thickener in the epoxy because it's a health hazard.

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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

John Greven recently told me that he no longer uses silver tip.

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Formerly know as Mandodiddle.

This should be cleared up. Cab-O-Sil contains no silicone. It's fumed silica, totally different substance from silicone.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

My slip of the tongue; sorry. I don’t use it, so I wasn’t careful with the language.

No problem, I just didn't want people to not to use because they were afraid of the silicone. Fumed silica like cabosil is an industry standard for thickening resins among other things. It's closer to sand than silicone.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Did he mention what he’s using instead? There sure seems to be a lot of experience on the forum with SilverTip if someone runs into problems, but it would be interesting to know.


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Just for info, because Silvertip's not available here in UK, I've been using BSI FINISH-CURE™ 20 MIN EPOXY without any filler successfully - because it's virtually clear.
I did adhesion tests and there's not any problems.

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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 don’t recall, Jay

James,
He has been using a Canadian product called SAMAN Latex Wood Filler lately.

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Formerly know as Mandodiddle.