Forums

Wood Glue Sliding Problems

Posted by Mister Scott on August 12, 2010 at 11:33pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion
I've been having a problem completing my scarf joints. After cutting and planing the board, I marked reference lines on each side to line them up when gluing. I then applied Titebond 3 and clamped the pieces together. However, the pieces then began to slide, throwing off my reference lines and, I imagine, making a weaker joint.

Can anyone help out? Are my clamps too tight?

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Email me when people reply –
Follow

Replies

  • Johnny Debit September 10, 2010 at 12:40pm
    Tiny bits and pins. I use the same locating pins that I use for glueing my fretboards and bridges. LMI sells a set that are .0313" in diamerter (just slightly larger than a fret slot).
    LMI
    Just clamp around the pins and remove them when it's dry. You can probably hunt around and find something cheaper, but $18 dollars is cheap insurance.
  • Jamie Kerns August 30, 2010 at 5:39pm
    what I do is put glue on the smaller wedge first then I put the two pcs together and smear it until the glue spreads evenly onto both pieces. then I take them apart and let both tack up for about 3 to 5min. then I position the small piece back into place, by this time the glue is tacky enough to hold in place. Now it still can shift when pressure is applied so here is what I do. I place a clamp (small or med. size) over the top front seam to where the seam is centered under the clamp, apply a very small amount of tension. then I place another clamp over the lower back seam again using little tension. then I tighten each one a little at a time until I feel it is secure enough. then I start to clamp the center again with each clamp I apply a little bit of pressure at a time.

    NOTE: you don't have to let it tack up but it does help, wood glue isn't fast drying so I cant hurt. also don't apply to much glue, just enough to give a good bond, enough to spread on both application areas then get rid of the excess before you go in for the KILL SHOT! I hope this can be of some help...c-ya
  • Andy Estabrooks August 29, 2010 at 12:02pm
    Good idea Wes. I do something similar using tack nails, this sounds easier. This should work for gluing up fret boards as well.

    Wes Yates said:
    A,B,C and all the above. I use a few staples from a staple gun and cut them so I have small 'pins' to hold the scarf on. I place them on an area where they won't poke thru if I sand or radius the neck.

    -WY
  • Don Goguen August 28, 2010 at 8:02am
    I wish I could take credit for this but it is just one of hundreds of ideas I got from searching the web. I wanted to learn to build both traditional guitars and CBG's so I spent a lot of time learning short cuts and techniques from others. There is a lot of great information on scarf joints on the web. This trick and the table saw jig I built were just a sample of the time saving gold I found.

    I hope you find this tip useful because I sure did.

    Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) said:
    I never would have thought of that. That is genius. I'm trying this out on the next neck I make.

    Don Goguen said:
    The method I use is mad simple. I align the joint and apply blue painters tape on the back of the joint. I do this while dry and use the tape as a hinge. I swing the headstock piece back and apply glue to both sides. Fold the joint back and apply clamps. The tape hold the piece just enough to keep it from sliding. There are a couple of pictures on my profile page that shows one clamped up. I use the wood screw type of clamps and have no issues. Before I was using a variable angle clamp but this allows me to glue up a bunch at a time.
  • Josh Gayou (SmokehouseGuitars) August 27, 2010 at 7:40pm
    I never would have thought of that. That is genius. I'm trying this out on the next neck I make.

    Don Goguen said:
    The method I use is mad simple. I align the joint and apply blue painters tape on the back of the joint. I do this while dry and use the tape as a hinge. I swing the headstock piece back and apply glue to both sides. Fold the joint back and apply clamps. The tape hold the piece just enough to keep it from sliding. There are a couple of pictures on my profile page that shows one clamped up. I use the wood screw type of clamps and have no issues. Before I was using a variable angle clamp but this allows me to glue up a bunch at a time.
  • Paul Stephen Eklund August 16, 2010 at 11:11pm
    I glued up 2 jigs over the week end and used Don Thompson's suggestion with the sand. SWEET! I still let the glue get tacky as usual but just added a very very slight and light dusting of sand. What a difference! Thanks for the topic Scotty C. Great thread!
  • Don Goguen August 16, 2010 at 4:03pm
    Good clamps are key with this type of joint. I use these.

    Scotty C. said:
    I went with Don Goguen's suggestion, which certainly helped, but the biggest thing was getting proper mini bar clamps by Irwin. That made things quite a bit easier.
  • Mister Scott August 16, 2010 at 2:42pm
    I went with Don Goguen's suggestion, which certainly helped, but the biggest thing was getting proper mini bar clamps by Irwin. That made things quite a bit easier.
  • Travis "SlackJack" Woodall August 16, 2010 at 2:39pm
    I do something similar to what Naz said...I use really fine sawdust and sprinkle it over the glue, then let the glue tack up a little. Rarely have an issue using that method. I think we all have plenty of sawdust to go around.

    SlackJack
  • Don Thompson August 13, 2010 at 4:58pm
    Lightly sprinkle play sand on one of the preglued faces. As you tighten the the clamps down the sand will bite into the two faces and stop shifting. Go lightly, doesn't take much and stay away from the edges.
    Don
This reply was deleted.