Finished my brother's parlor guitar!

[David L]

I've been looking at that zipflex also. I'm glad you're providing us with guinea pig services!

David L

[David L]

Thanks for the .02 cents RD, I also would like to hear some other feedback on the stuff.

David L

[johnnparchem]

Thanks Rick,

I will give it some thought. I thought that titebond was OK with it. I On their web site they seem to imply that it is, but they are really pushing CA. Not always perfect with the gluing of my bindings I want to use titebond so I have the option of fixing small gaps. ALso, I did not realize the the glue released the shell from the black tape. I have a strip to play with, I will try a few tests on some scrap wood.

John

[tippie53]

I only seen zip flex once and like Rick I prefer shell or abalam. My preference is still Abalam as it works and glues well. It isn't that hard to work with , you just need a good technique for breaking into the track. I use a piece of bone and a 20 penny nail.
I like the way Abalam glues up. I have use white elmers , tite bond , ca and duco and all works well with this stuff. Put me down for the tight bond as my favorite pearl glue.

[David L]

John, can you explain a little on how you use a nail and bone to install abalam? I personally think abalam looks better than solid shell, but that's just me!

David L

[tippie53]

I grind a sharp point on the nail , this allows me to manipulate the pearl in the channel. I can also use the nail head to roll the pearl in areas if I need to work it. The bone is a thick bone saddle blank. I have 2 sharp corners on each end and a radius. The sharp corners let me pin point the fracture and the rounder area lets me work side pearl and long stretches .
The key is to control brake and to be able to set the pearl into the glue bed. The more breaks the more natural it looks.
I also wipe across the pearl not with it until the glue grabs things. If you wipe with it and it hasn't set you just make a big mess.
This is all about technique , and to be honest , it isn't hard . Take your time and work about 3 to 4 inches at a time till you feel comfortable. ALso don't get the idea to set pearl then apply glue, this really makes for a mess. I will use CA to fill voids as pearl , even abalam is a natural product and you will find this . A drop here and there is fine. I use thin med for that.
I will try and do a pictorial on this next time I do some

[David L]

Thanks John, very helpful, looking forward to the pictorial.

David L

[Tony_in_NYC]

I believe that Ryan glues his binding and purflings with CA so the material makes sense -- it's a one-step operation for him.

You are correct Mr. Davis. I had emailed Kevin a while back about zipflex and he suggested using medium viscosity CA to glue it in. Thin might seep into the interior of the guitar body and cause unsightly dark areas, or worse, stain your spruce or cedar top. Medium CA also has the benefit of filling gaps.
I opted to not use the zipflex for monetary reasons. I could not see spending $45 to do the same job I could do for under $25 from Andy DePaul for real, solid shell. I am not cheap, I am just not stupid. I am also not building for a living and I do not need to crank out 50 guitars or more so I gain nothing from saving a few minutes with the zipflex.
Its a cool product, but not for me. I like fitting the pieces of shell together when I use it a purfling. I enjoy spreading it all out on a board and color mathing the strips so I get a uniform look around the edge. It is one of the processes in building a guitar that I would not like to speed up. Now, if you could get me some Titebond that dries in 20 minutes, but has a 5 minute open time, you get me on the phone ASAP!!

[johnnparchem]

I did not get a lot done on the guitar this week. I did get the back reinforcement strip that I made form top cutoffs glued to the back. I sharpened all of my planes and chisels :P Also I am staring to play around deciding on a rosette. I think I will go with a .375" wood rosette with Paua AbaLam purfling or the zipflex. I have a picture of some wood that my look good. But it came in a mystery pack of 10 pieces of wood good for rosettes from RCTone wood. I am not sure what kind of wood it is. Also I changed the sand paper on my drum sander from 80 to 120 to get the top surfaced to start the rosette work.
I was going to do more but I was side tracked setting up for the rosette when I realized I did not get the small diameter adapter with my router base. So I made one until the real one arrives.

[johnnparchem]

I bent the sides of the parlor today. I am proud that the top is the top on boths sides and the outsides are the book matched side. The spanish cedar almost bent itself before I got all the springs attached while it was coming up to temp just from the weight of the spring clamps.