Glues

[Susan Kline]

At 08:17 PM 10/24/1999 -0700, Jason wrote:

>So Susan is saying that you mix yellow carpenters glue with super glue for
>special uses? um ... why? 

Susan is saying that you mix yellow or white glue (Elmer's works fine) with 
CA glue, for speed of setup and firmness of grip, to avoid awkward clamping 
situations, and to overcome CA glue's habit of sometimes not setting up or 
failing when fit isn't perfect. 

Susan has said a lot about various situations where this works well, 
and people who try it keep finding more applications. 

You can check out my article online, thanks to Rob Kiddell.

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/atonal/kline.html

this is with frames. Or, you can choose no frames at:
 http://www.telusplanet.net/public/atonal/

and navigate through to the technical section ("glue tips") from there. 

>I'da thought you could decide from the situation
>which type was preferable. I'd have thought that yellow glue is particularly
>good at binding fibrous (porous) material and also providing some fill and a
>tad of shock absorption, while super glue will bind non-porous materials
>with a chemical bond and yet does not generate any fill. So maybe when you
>want to bind *relatively* non-porous materials and provide a tad of fill you
>can get the best of both from the combo? Is that the thinking?

It does leave a sort of hard foam with some gap-filling ability, but 
the aspect of CA glue which it is chosen for is the fast setting. The white 
glue (or yellow glue) is there to do the heavy lifting for the joint strength 
after about 1/2 hour. The water-based glue acts as a mild but effective
kicker 
for the CA. 

If you have a choice, it is better to use the yellow or white glue on the 
porous material, and the CA on the harder material, since it wicks in fast 
and then turns hard. For instance, in gluing on new corfam, it is better to 
use the titebond on the corfam and put a drop or two of crazy glue on the 
wood. 

Alternately, the white glue can be spread and the two pieces put together, 
then taken apart, a couple of drops of CA added, and then put together 
immediately again. This allows the white glue to be spread in the right 
quantity, evenly, through the joint, but offers less leeway for working 
time than putting one glue on one surface and the other on the other. 

>Are you folks using epoxy for anything these days? Sheldon Smith used to use
>it on the down-string edge of a new pinblock when fitting it to the plate,
>and also when shimming a soundboard. He would take a half-teaspoon of
>soundboard sandings and mix it into the epoxy to get the color match, then
>use it as the glue for the shim, because he said it not only completely
>filled the gap but also provided seamless resonance across the shim. How
>does that sound these days? (I'm talking 1971 here.)

I use epoxy for gapfilling. I just used it for an action rail crack in an 
otherwise marginal piano. It did the job. I put in the glue with a steel, 
clamped the crack  shut, waited for it to set, then I put in most of the 
whippen screws, left it overnight, took off the clamps and added the 
remaining screws.  

I wish very much that I had had a chance to see Sheldon Smith do some of 
these things, but it was not to be. 

Susan