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Correct glue for inlays on early 60's

bern1

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 23, 2004
Messages
1,275
block inlay ES 335? Raising inlays. I've seens comments on this in other threads. Some say super glue, white glue, Duco. Dan said he might repair it with hot hide glue.

6 of the 9 inlays are in varying states of raising up. It appears then that the glue is failing and that the right thing to do would be to remove, clean and reglue all the inlays.

What would be the best glue to use for this? Was hide glue originally used for this purpose at the factory?

Thanks.
 

Mike Shaw

Active member
Joined
Jul 31, 2001
Messages
2,883
Early 60's? I think I would go with hot hide glue. I'm not sure if hide glue was originally used but IMHO, hide glue seems to be the most accepted method of gluing a vintage instrument.
 

Stevedenver

Active member
Joined
Jul 17, 2001
Messages
2,565
for inlays????-hope they dont melt-wouldnt that be a disaster
nothing wrong with super glue-dries hard -clear-and all you need is a drop or so-make sure before hand that the inlay fits well (so youre not monkeying with this while the glue is setting up-just be able to drop in and hold it flat

i actually prefer the thicker gap filing glue as it tends to stay put rather than having the capillary action of the thin glues-easier to place and to control-a drop or 2 and you can then push on the inlay to get the stuff to travel inderneath the inlay-

as with most gluing applications-less is more, as theres really no stress or movement on the inlays-they simply need to be held onto the board

best thing is to clean any residue from under the inlay-

x acto makes flat, straight across blade available at any hobby shop, looks like a mini chisel
-it will give you a nice flat scrape and will easily fit in the inlay hole and be very controllable-so that you dont round the edges of the route

while you may be well coordinated-i would mask the board to prevent an accident-super glue not only dries very fast-but tends to penetrate the wood -this makes clean up an issue-do this even for applying 1 or 2 drops straight from the bottle-

if the inlays wont lay flat-there are inexpensive low pressure plastic hobby clamps (or wide rubber bands will do-but have these on the neck and ready to position) to hold the inlays down

saran wrap works as a glue barrier-kinda like teflon-but you really want no spill to avoid damage to the inlay face-but my point is that if you need to hold thme down-use this as a precaution against seepage-better to have a crust that yhou need to sand than a bit of rubber band or clamp pad that has been welded to your inlay

a wood glue will also work,

id suggest, in all cases to 'roughing' the back of the inlay with fine sandpaper-just a bit, just a few scratches in the otherwise smooth as glass surface for better adhesion-wood glues dont dry quite as hard-they take a while to dry-but you can wipe off excess with a damp sponge

i would only remove those that come out easily-leave the others until failure
if none come out at all
i wouldnt force them -they might break
-then plan b would be to use the super thin ACC-get a tiny bottle with a super thin tube applicator (ususally attached around the bottles collar)

gently bend-or not-the edge and use a tiny drop-the cappilary action will tkae it in and around - then press

having done this a few times-this has worked well for me

also make sure the board isnt oiled-if it has let it dry out before you do this or the glue may not work, or not work well as the oil prevents adhesion-and it also will cause the holes to swell, making fitting the inlays more troublesome potentially

inlays are delicate and easily broken-handle as if they were glass of the same thickness-avoid force
 
Last edited:

bern1

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 23, 2004
Messages
1,275
Thanks very much for the advice.

The edges are actually lifting up, some of them spring back when I push on them and others don't, the lip just sits above the fingerboard surface.

It seems like on the ones that spring up that the flat inlay is held down on the ends to fit the radius of the fingerboard, which would make sense. Does that mean that the routing for the inlays is not at a constant depth? I may be making more of this than is necessary.

It's maddening though, the loosest one is not all that loose....I'll proceed carefully, thanks again.
 
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