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Permalink Reply by brdfrd on May 29, 2014 at 11:12pm

I geuss not? I'm going to try it though, might be over-kill.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on May 30, 2014 at 12:32am

I've used a similar glue many years...hey, who am I fooling, several decades ago, but to be honest it has a fair bit going against it, mainly because you have to mix a batch of it each time you glue-up, so it's not particularly convenient or  economical. If you are into mixing batches of glue for each job, hot hide is far superior for guitar work. 

Most modern woodworking glues such as Titebond offer really good strength, easy clean-up and long shelf life - it's all most people will ever need.

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Permalink Reply by John Jordan on May 30, 2014 at 8:25am

Titebond and the other PVA glues are stronger than the wood if you have a good fit. All fine string instruments use hide glue, at least I think they still do. The advantage of hide and Titebond etc is they can be taken apart. for repair.

John

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Permalink Reply by John Jordan on May 30, 2014 at 9:58am

They use a little steamer nozzle and various little flat tools to work the steam and water into the joint to heat the glue which is applied hot and sets as it cools - and lots of patience.  Those seven figure violins are not repaired in a rush, same for those rare Gibsons, Martins etc. I have no idea how easy it would be with the waterproof glues etc, but regular pvc glue is water soluble, too.

If you are really interested, I'm sure you can google it and find some info and pictures. If you've ever handled any real antiques, if they have never been repaired they'll have plenty of loose joints etc as they hide glue finally crumbles, but they will usually be fairly easy to repair.

I can't imagine worrying about it for a CGB, though. They make a hide glue in a bottle but, I don't think many people use it.

I'm no expert on glue etc, but have seen a fair amount of this stuff, and what I have written is pretty accurate. There are likely a lot people on CBN that do know a lot and could easily shoot it full of holes. :)

John

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Permalink Reply by John Jordan on May 30, 2014 at 3:19pm

That's funny! My three string period.

Heres what I do for a living if you want a look.  Not much glue involved, but I have someone interested in a large commission, and I likely will use epoxy. I do use a drop of ca glue here and there.

John Jordan Woodturning

John

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on May 30, 2014 at 5:34pm

Hide glue softens under a little heat and moisture, so a damp cloth and a hot knife is a common way to part a hide glue joint. Bottled hide glue is not well regarded by most pukka luthiers. Because of the use of animal glue, all the classic Strads, Guaneris etc are eminently repairable, and you can bet a lot of old fiddles will have been taken apart and repaired time after time over the years using hide glue. You can part a Titebond joint in the same way, but it is a lot harder to do...it's a pretty nasty job, but is feasible. With stuff like epoxy you haven't got a chance of taking apart a joint non-destructively.

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on May 31, 2014 at 2:41am

Wonder if you could mix this stuff with water and saw dust. Roll it out like pie dough and make your own thin sheets of 'wood'. If so folks will see this on a Martha Stewart show. :)

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Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on May 31, 2014 at 11:34am

Good old Weldwood. I used it building and repairing wood aircraft structures. Things like wings and in some cases fuselage components. Before someone in the epoxy trade sold the FAA a bill of goods in the early 2000s, it was one of the few approved glues for use on aircraft structural assembly. Easy to work with, mix the powder with water. Very strong, the wood will fail before the glue joint. Don't use it if you ever plan on disassembling the parts glued together, but it is great glue. Easy to work with and strong enough to build a bridge. It's only drawback if you want to call it that is it leaves a dark glue joint that will be visible in the finished part.

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Permalink Reply by brdfrd on May 31, 2014 at 3:04pm

I don't really glue too much, I've been carving necks out of one solid block of wood, so the dark joint wouldn't be an issue. I read about the hot hide glue, and that sounds like more of a pain in the butt than mixing this up to use. I'm not usually one to do what you're supposed to anyway, so I'm probably going to give this a try.

Thanks for the feedback folks.

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