Official Luthiers Forum!

yeah, just to try and embarrass me...well it doesn't work Hank! I'm too old to get embarrassed anymore too!

how about you keep an eye on u'r post counter and i'll stick with my cologne glue

Besides, i call it cologne glue for a very good reason Hank. It's because i always put a dab behind each ear to hold my glasses on before i start work.

Darn spell checker

Cheers

Kim

I first thought the CA might be part of the problem, but I believe what Todd and others have said about it. I think the 60 degree shop, and 90 second open time are what's causing troubles. I add a pinch of salt to 1 ounce of HHG to extend open time when closing the box, but I take less than 90 seconds. I have a small fan forced heater blowing on the body for a while before closing the box. I heat the edge of the top (or back) with a heat gun. (I glue my (kerfed) linings in small sections so my process for glueing them wouldn't help your situation)

My suggestions.
A pinch of salt in your glue, but try on scrap first. My "pinch" and yours may measure differently.
Heat the shop up to at least 75 degrees.
I'd heat the sides, but not to 140. A fan forced heater or heat lamp should be able to heat the entire area/assembly to 110 or so, instead of heating a small area hotter. Same with the linings.
I see no need to put glue on both surfaces. This takes alot of time. I'd put the glue on the linings from a bottle. It would take 10 seconds or less to run a bead from end to end. You could mist the sides with warm water while heating them if you think it's necessary.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Filippo, perhaps you could use foil or something to cover the tentelones to protect them from the hot air from the gun while you warm the solid lining.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Some good experience and good advice here. Great thread. One thing that I did was travel E-bay a bit and pick up a couple of food warming trays. I place braces and smaller parts on them and warm them prior to the glue up. They can also be found in thrift shops.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

60* is really flirting with danger and almost an impossible situation given your method, Fillipo. Here's what I do when I glue liners:

1) Clamp the mold with the sides in a vise
2) Lay down a bead of HHG only on 1/3 the length of the side where the liner will be glued...horizontal surfaces hold beads better than vertical surfaces.
3) Slap on the liner and clamp it quickly
4) Lay down another bead on the second 1/3 and clamp
5) Lay down the final bead, clamp and clean squeezeout after 15 minutes.

This has worked for me for years. The key is laying down the bead on a horizontal surface IMO. But continue to use warm surfaces and get the room much warmer...or do it in a warm kitchen or bathroom when SWMBO is out shopping. Also...45 seconds is the target you should shoot for in getting the joint closed. I do it all the time for tops and backs...so you can do it too. Just practice with dry runs...it's so worth it. Good luck!

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

I had no problems with gluing tentellones on any of the three guitars I have built. I do not pre-heat the sides or the top, or the tentellone. What I do do, is to use lots of glue, then clean up. Lots of glue helps hold the heat. I don't even think of keeping it neat. I hold my tentellones for about 30 seconds. Longer than some have recommended. Actually, in the lower bout, I hold for about 45 seconds each, as there is some tension on that joint, due to the recurve in my doming process. It takes time, but not that much. Couple of hours to glue in a top.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

"do it in a warm kitchen or bathroom when SWMBO is out shopping. "

the smell of HHG in the kitchen does not seem consistent with domestic harmony.

...pre-warming the linings in the oven at ~180F can help a lot and leaves the kitchen smelling a lot nicer.

-jd

Buy your Sweetie's favorite cookie dough in a tube and bake them afterward. It'll cover the scent of HHG and, unless there a dietary situation to avoid, score you brownie points. If it is unwise for you to bake all of them at once, bake just a couple small ones. It will still smell like cookies. You will have been thoughtful enough not to sabotage the diet but still giving a treat. Or you could bake them all and take the rest to work with you, but get them out of sight before Sweetie gets home.

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Aoibeann

I also use a palette knife and glue in sections I would recommend making up a new batch of glue and reduce the clamping pressure by using clothes pins or smaller clamps. IMHO the number and force that these clamps are applying could be causing the joint to be starved of glue.

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Michael Lloyd

“I was born to ignorance, yes, and lesser poverties ...
I was born to privilege that I did not see ... I didn’t know it, but my way was paved” – John Gorka