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!