hammer realignment

[Jeff Tanner]

>Jeff Tanner wrote:
>
>> Something I learned from Dennis Curtis, a piano technician for over 45
>> years and an RPT for over 25, is if you are using wood glue, to let the
>> glue set out over night in a cup to let as much moisture evaporate as
>> possible (you will have to peel off the top layer).  The glue gets really
>> thick and sets fast with less warpage of the wood parts.  Apply it with a
>> wooden coffee stirrer.  I realize though, that this normally isn't
>> practical in the field, but is good shop practice.
>>
>> Jeff Tanner
>
>-----------------------------------
>
>Not necessarily.
>
>As moisture is removed from adhesives such as TiteBond or TiteBond II they
>lose at
>least part of their ability to wet-out the wood surface.  One part of the glue
>joint is called the 'interpenetrating' area.  This is the region of wood
>in which
>the solvent used in the adhesive -- in this case water -- has penetrated
>the wood
>fiber carrying 'glue liquor' with it.  If a considerable portion of the
>water has
>been deliberately evaporated out of the adhesive prior to coating the
>wood, this
>region will be smaller -- thinner -- than it should be and the adhesive
>joint will
>be some weaker that expected.  The effect is much the same as with a
>'cold' joint.
>Yes, you can still make a bonded joint this way, but the margin for error
>becomes
>increasingly small.
>
>If you need a thicker adhesive, you can always use a small amount of
>thickener with
>both TiteBond and TiteBond II (and their competitive cousins).  We have
>used shell
>flour with some success.  Also, Garrett Wade sells a thickened adhesive --
>they
>call it a gap-filling adhesive -- that works well.
>
>Regards,
>
>Del


Del,
Thanks for the correction and the explanation why.  I must say though, the
experience I've had with it, the wood has broken before the bond did.

Jeff

Jeff Tanner, Piano Technician
School of Music
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
(803)-777-4392 (phone)
(803)-777-6508 (fax)