Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey guys! I've gotten a lot of great info so far, so thanks for all of your help! I have one quick question for you, though. Please forgive my ignorance with woodworking, but what's the difference between cement/glue? I bought weldon 16 binding glue as per a recommendation from Martin. Can I use that for all of my gluing needs? Or do I need different types of glue for different jobs? What do you guys think?

Thanks again for all of your help!
-Brandon

The weldon is for your plastic bindings only, for your first project I would recommend a yellow woodworking glue. Nothing fancy, no need to be waterproof. I prefer Titebond but Elmers or any other brand should be fine. Good luck with your build.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

+1 on yellow glue ( titebond is my preference ) for a 1st build. Get a fresh bottle and get to work, I don't use it nearly as much now as when I started out but still use it for many parts of the build.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Just bought some titebond original and enough clamps that they decided to give me their shopping basket instead of giving me bags to put the clamps in. I think I might actually be about ready to move on to the next step in my build now!

Thanks for all your help!

I love clamps. I have a hundred of those wooden cam clamps, I ordered two batches of 50.

I build on a workboard and I use them to glue the ribs down to the soundboard, then the back down to the ribs.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Greetings from Brazil,
I am from USA but been living here 24 years. Titebond has finally arrived here ...I been using the local yellow glue for last 12 years. The question I post to all you luthieres with more experinece: which titebond do you prefer? Since I have a choice of 1,11,or 111? original,ultimate, premium??? or even extended??..norun/drip/fastsetting ?? The last two are not here yet but since doing some research thought I might as well ask. What about titebond wood filler??

Thanks for input...I would buy one of each and try them all but figure it´s more economical to buy bigger quantity of one type and later try another....which is the winner??Love the forum and all you luthiers`input...this is the place to be to get all the answers. Dennis, AxeTech Instruments, Belo Horizonte

Hi Dennis, Titebond 1 is preferred for guitar work over their other products.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks Steve..titebond 1 is tried and true..I am a believer..gonna buy me a liter or two...love the OLF and all you kool
luthiers...I am gonna have to put up some pics and get my profile up soon. Muito obrigado..sunshine from Brazil

Remember these glues have a shelf life. Better to buy quantities you'll consume within 6-12 months. Old glue can be kept for non-guitar use.

David

Hands down Titebond Extend Original is my favorite general purpose wood glue for luthiery. When used in conjunction with sizing I've personally achieved open assembly times in excess of 25 minutes. It also contains fillers than enhance its thermal resistance and therefore its resistance to creep as well. Unless you are in a production environment and need extremely rapid processes, Titebond Extend has nothing but advantages. Titebond Supreme is another nice product if you want the performance benefits of Extend and the short assembly time of Original... Although it still offers longer closed assembly time, which allows for final adjustments prior to final clamping. All of these adhesives will steam apart for maintenance without difficulty as well. Again, Titebond Extend is without question my top recommendation.

Unless you are using RF in your process or have a special application, there are no advantages to using Titebond II. Not to mention it can be more of a pain to steam apart. Under no circumstances do I ever recommend Titebond III for use in a musical instrument. TB III should really be called Titebond Cutting Board & Wooden Countertop, as these are among the only truly proper uses for it. It's also a great product for laminating skateboard decks as it is a close relative of Multibond SK-8, which is an industrial product from Franklin targeted specifically at the skateboard industry.

PS- With respect to shelf life, Titebond Original and Extend can last for well over a decade if stored properly. While replacing it at least once every year is by no means harmful, as long as the product flows and spreads normally it will continue to perform as well as fresh product because they do not degrade chemically over time... Instead they just lose moisture, which can be remedied by adding small amounts of water. A little goes a very long way: 5% addition of water will decrease the viscosity, thickness, by half while a 10% addition will reduce it by 75%. In both cases there is no appreciable impact on strength at these dilution levels. Optimal storage conditions are generally similar to a basement, where temperature is relatively constant between 60°F and 70°F at all times with humidity around 50%. The oldest bottle of Titebond Original I ever tested was 19 years old. After tapping it on the corner of a desk for a few minutes to restore its consistency, the product worked as well as if it had just come off the production line. This is true for all non ANSI/HPVA Type I or Type II PVA/resin-modified PVA/aliphatic resin adhesives.

I would stick to original Titebond and stay away from any Elmers wood glues. I had no problem with basic Elmers wood glue in the past but they have changed the formula and now claim it's stronger. I'm always weary of new formulas. Titebond originals is time proven....Mike

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

For my first build I used Fish Glue for most things. The long open time really saved me a few times. It also cleans up easily with warm water. My guitar came out great.

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EddieLee

Why recommend titebond over fish glue? I would think that fish glue gives the same benefits of titebond (easy cleanup and long open time) but dries more crystaline than titebond so it theoretically should sound better???

Titebond is readily available and is an excellent adhesive. I agree that the beginner should stick with it ( ) for the first couple of instruments before trying more exotic things. The long open time is very useful when you are doing stuff for the first time. Titebond Extend seems like an interesting product. I don't see it for sale much.

There have been reports of fish glue spontaneously releasing in hot humid weather. I have no experience with fish glue myself, but this is enough to scare me. I use HHG mostly these days.

Regular Titebond actually dries quite hard if it is fresh. The main disadvantage is that it will creep in high heat, like in the trunk of your car in summer. It also tends to slip around instead of stick when you are trying to clamp it.

hello all! i'm new to the forum! on the glue, i am currently using hot hide glue. open time is short compared to titebond, but the rock hard set no doubt produces better sound transference. definitely recommend when bracing tops.

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JSMcQueen

Titebond I.
Not II or III.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I need advise regarding a headstock repair I am doing for someone. Unfortunately i found that he had attempted a repair himself previously by pumping Superglue into the cracked headstock so now i have to contend with that. The headstock is hanging on by the headplate and is not exactly in 2 pieces so theres a gap of about an inch to get glue into. But the hardest part would be getting most of the superglue out first before i could attempt to glue it again. Therefore I think that Epoxy is the only answer as i cant imagine titebond actually bonding the wood that's been already super glued? Can anyone comment on that ?.
Also, can anyone suggest the best Epoxy available in the Uk or Europe that would be strong enough. What do builders in the USA use as their epoxy glue for headstock repair ?

Thanks guys
Rusty

The first question to ask is: how much CA remains in the attired repair? Was it originally a complete break? How well do the bonding surfaces close up? If it started as a full break consider using acetone to separate the two halves again as it will reverse the CA. Then proceed with cleaning up as much residual adhesive and use either a good PVA or hot hide glue. Epoxy could work, but clean bonding surfaces are the first step to a lasting joint. Pictures would be very helpful.

It will be a more involved repair by nature of correcting a failed attempt... But at least it's CA as opposed to epoxy or polyurethane. On most repairs I prefer to use adhesives that someone in the future can rework if necessary (the intent is to make a permanent repair, but you never know what could happen down the road.

Thanks Filippo, I meant to mention that in my post. If no repair attempts have been made with CA to start off with there would be no special prep-work... But the best approach now could be to finish breaking it off so that the residual CA can be cleaned off thoroughly while retaining all of the wood as it was following the break (because they almost always have a perfect fit and will make for a nearly invisible repair.)

One other point I forgot to mention: If you are planning to use PVA such as Titebond Original or Extend, I always recommend diluting it with a 5% to 10% addition of water which will result in 50% and 75% decreases in viscosity without changing final bond strength. Wetting both bonding surfaces with water and a small brush and allowing it to soak in for a few minutes is also not a bad idea. My reasons for these changes are that adding water to the interface will slow down the drying process of the adhesive ever so slightly and provide additional open and closed assembly time. The diluted adhesive will further extend assembly time and allow you to ensure the fit is absolutely perfect before really torquing down the clamps. Since the adhesive is significantly thinner it will get into all of the little nooks and crannies commonly found in a headstock break, and will then proceed to squeeze out more readily than undiluted adhesive. Not only does this have the cosmetic advantage of forming a super-thin glueline: thin gluelines are also much stronger than thicker ones.

The only downside I see, potentially depending on the finish type, is that it could require more finish repair. If it's a nitro finish you can at least tape off the finish and try to clean off the CA using acetone and a soft toothbrush. If you luck out you might get away with some drop-filling. If it's polyurethane or polyester the acetone won't do much too it, but the crack will be more visible unless you strip the whole thing down and refinish while you're at it.

Good luck

Finally figured how to add a pic here---This is a pic before i removed everything in preparation for gluing it up.
I did my best to remove as much ca as possible and put liberal amounts of acetone in there and brushed it all out as best i could.

So tomorrow its decision time and i'm leaning towards the strong Epoxy for some reason but that could change.


Thanks for all the tips here guys
Rusty

Finally went for the Devcon 2 part epoxy rated at 2500 psi. Cleaned out as much of the old superglue as I could without separating the headstock completely and used lots of acetone to clean it all out. Did the repair by using Cauls, Clamps and also a ratchet strap strung from headstock to the strap button and that gave a really tight joint. Left it 24 hours--instructions say 8 hours cure time-- and everything looked rosy. Strung it up and played really nice--until I noticed that the crack at the back of the neck had opened slightly again--The repair had failed !!! Cant believe it as I was so careful. Mixed the epoxy perfectly, clamped it all tight etc etc.. Not happy !!!!

Nobody has mentioned LMI Instrument Makers Glue... I like it!

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

What do you all think of the Titebond Liquid Hideglue? Haven't seen any threads on any boards, anywhere, mentioning it much less discussing using it.

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Dean

Try using the search function for "liquid hide glue" -- you should find a few posts of interest.

I tried liquid hide glue and would not be recommending it. You would be better off with standard hide glue and what I do is to use a little baby bottle warmer available for a few quid, and stick a thermometer to keep a check on the temperature. I just mix the hide glue in a jam jar with a hole in the lid for the thermometer, plug in the bottle warmer and have it quarter full of water and pop the jar into it with the thermometer sticking out through the hole in the lid. It flows much easier than the bottled glue and sets rock hard afterwards. I had heard many horror stories on the bottled hide glue but tried it regardless. I was not impressed and went back to the old way of doing things
Hope that helps
Rusty