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Just wondering how long you folks leave your HHG joints clamped?

It depends on the joint. If it is stressed, I leave it overnight. If I am not in a hurry, no matter what type of joint, I leave it overnight, just to be safe. If it is not stressed and I want to move things along, I will wait a few hours, and it is always fine. I think it is normally fine a lot faster than I am conditioned to think it is, but I like letting it fully dry before I mess with it, and overnight is always more than enough.

Some joints don't get clamped. Tentelones aren't clamped at all. They are not even a "rubbed" joint, but rather just stuck in place, and as the glue dries the joint gets tighter. Most glueups with HHG I like to leave for the "day" (12 hrs min.), clamped or not. Since it is a glue that works by drying out I try not to disturb it until the next day.

I usually work on braces or the rosette after a couple of hours, but on a couple of times I only waited one hour. It still worked fine. For the back I like to leave it overnight. I don’t think I go bar anything else.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Fretboards, bridges, head plate veneers and anything that can cup and roll like the bridge patch for example - over night. Which generally means 12 hours. I tend to leave fretboards for 24. Braces, heal caps, rosettes, linings, or anything simple and just to keep working - 2 hours.

Similar approach. Stressed joint like radiused braces, bridge plate, and bridge, overnight. Others 5-6 hrs.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Maybe that's why HHG guitars are so expensive. I think I'll switch to crazy glue for my upscale line;)

Have any of you guys ever actually had a problem from unclamping too soon? I do give fingerboards at least 24 hours before leveling, since it takes time for all the moisture to work its way through the wood and un-swell, but the glue should be good and stuck within an hour or two.

I still recommend doing the experiment I described in this thread http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=663000#p663000

I built a guitar almost entirely out of CA as an experiment to 'prove' that CA works. In short, it does! This gutiar is going on 10 years old and has purposely been treated bad, rarely spends time in it's case and has been played outside by the camp fire on misty nights and so on.

I'm not saying I'd make a regular habit out of building guitars with CA but this little experiment has impressed me so far. And the best part about it is, just hold the brace for 60 seconds and move on to the next one! I built this guitar in a week.

Results from a fairly comprehensive test of glues are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoaTZY5cSQE

CA glues' performance was amongst the best...

But I'll stick with HHG and occasional TB. Same HHG clamp philosophy as several above: 8+ hours for stressed or critical joints, 3-4 hours otherwise and rubbed joints for small parts.

I prefer over night but to me Min 4 hr of clamp time
Bridges 24 hr

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I ruined a back plate joint by picking it up too soon. I checked clock and it was at about 3 hrs.

I've been able to go overnight by changing the work order...