First kit advice

[JLT]

Hide glue and fish glue have the advantage of reversibilty. There's prbably only a few violins over a hundred years old that haven't been taken apart and modified for one reason or another.

And I favor it because I'm constantly taking my instruments apart and putting them back together in different ways.

But if you're not going to monkey with it afterwards, you're probably best with Titebond I or Elmer's casein glue.

[Tomcat]

I decided to stick with Titebond for this kit, and picked up some to start with. As always I appreciate the advice from all. Aiming for some prep work this weekend. Wish me luck 😃

[MaineGeezer]

Original Titebond will be fine. Lots of guitars have been built with it.

If you're feeling like you want to expand your range of skills when the time comes to glue the neck and bridge in place, you could try doing those joints with HHG, 250 gram strength would be about right I think. If you do, practice the moves ahead of time so locating the parts, applying clamps, etc. goes smoothly.

[Tomcat]

Original Titebond will be fine. Lots of guitars have been built with it.

If you're feeling like you want to expand your range of skills when the time comes to glue the neck and bridge in place, you could try doing those joints with HHG, 250 gram strength would be about right I think. If you do, practice the moves ahead of time so locating the parts, applying clamps, etc. goes smoothly.

Thanks again, Maine. HHG does still seem like a learning curve I'm interested in trying to climb later. Or, if I end up moving to a less humid climate, fish glue. (I know people more often retire *to* Florida than *from* Florida, but we'll see!)

[MaineGeezer]

I think it's more "get comfortable using it." There are details to be aware of that you don't have to think about with other glues. For starters, how much water do you add when you mix it up?? How thick should it be? Then how hot should it be? (I say about 140F). And, how long do you have to mess with it before it' will no longer make a good glue joint. You can pre-heat the pieces you're gluing to get more working time. A heat gun or hair dryer can do that.

My impression is that HHG hardens up in two stages. The first is when it first cools, which happens fairly rapidly. It goes from a liquid state to a gelled state fairly rapidly, and once is gells it won't glue anymore. So, you have to get the parts assembled before it gells. Once the parts have been assembled while the HHG is in a liquid state, then cooled to the gelled state, the second stage of hardening begins, and that is when the water evaporates from the glue and the gelled glue changes from rubbery and soft to hard and brittle.

At least, that is how it seems to work when I use it. Your mileage may vary....

[JLT]

I think it's more "get comfortable using it." There are details to be aware of that you don't have to think about with other glues.

I think the best write-up I've found is Frank Ford's web page on how he uses hide glue. He takes most of the mystery out of it:

http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier ... glue1.html

[Tomcat]

Thanks, that's a great link!

[Tomcat]

Is there any structural reason that flattop guitars use glued bridges instead of a tailpiece like an archtop or a violin? Or is it just a combination of simplicity and tradition?

I can see the other way around though. Trying to match the curve of the top and the bottom of a bridge to get a secure attachment sounds very difficult, so adapting the violin tailpiece and like a reasonable alternative.

[tippie53]

glued on bridges are better on flat tops as that is what the braces are designed for , arch top , that use a tail piece , are designed for that system they are not interchangeable

[Tomcat]

After some time gathering supplies and knowledge (plus living the rest of my busy life), I finally got started on my kit!

These are the steps I've done so far, mostly based on the kit instructions, of course:

1) Used a razor knife and chisel to finish the roughed-out slot for the truss rod in the head block. In this design, the adjusting nut is reached through the soundhole rather than a plate at the head.

2) Dry-fitted the cover strip for the truss rod channel, and made it flush with the neck. The instructions suggested using a plane, but I found that only a few inches at one end of the strip stood above the channel, so I just used a sanding block with 80-grit at that end. I didn't bother with refining the sandpaper at this point, since it is not supposed to be a gluing surface later.

At this point, I also dry-fitted the neck, rod, and channel cover with the body, just to make sure that the rod installation looks good. Given that the dovetail neck joint is roughed out but not finished and fitted, it aligned pretty well so far.

3) I installed the first 14 frets into the pre-cut slots in the fingerboard, using a brass hammer, and then used a mill file to shape and bevel the ends. I finished the ends and gently rounded the fingerboard edges with a sanding block with 220-grit paper. I did not try to use a radiused block on the fingerboard first, as suggested in the instructions - the fingerboard my old guitar is flat (or a high enough radius that I can't see the difference) so I figured it would feel comfortable with just the slightly rounded edges. The rest of the frets, that will lie over the body, are supposed to be installed after the neck is installed.

The next step is to install a veneer over the face of the peghead. My youngest just got a degree in graphic design, so I'm asking him to design a logo to inlay with the veneer. I'll use a friend's laser cutter to cut the design
as a negative silhouette out of the dark rosewood veneer that came with the kit, and then make a positive silhouette cut of the same design out of a piece of white ash veneer I picked up, stain the ash the desired color (light enough to contrast with the rosewood), and then glue them onto the face together. If the laser kerf is wide enough to require filling, I'll probably ask advice here in the best way to fill it.

After that, the next steps are opening up the small guide holes for the tuning machines and then gluing the fingerboard to the neck, leaving space for the nut.

The roughed-out neck is a bit over1/8th inch wider than the fingerboard, so it's going to be an adventure learning to carve the neck down so that it's flush with the sides of the fingerboard without marring the fingerboard itself. Another bit of advice to ask, I expect. I was thinking a rasp and then sandpaper, stepping the way down from 80 to 220. I don't expect to need anything finer than 220 until it's time for the finish.

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks to everyone for the support so far!