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Anyone ever use one of these cauls? Found it on EBay.....not the cheapest but no reviews


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I had to look it up so I'm not sure if I am looking at the same thing. But if it is this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/AxeMasters-Gui ... 0510070727 then I don't see any way to adjust it for different pin spacing's or alignment. That and it would not be quick enough to use with HHG. You would have to reach inside and fumble with wing nuts.

Stew Mac made one where you used a regular through the sound hole clamp for the center and then thumb screws for the wings.

That style works fine, if not just a little fiddly to get the wing nuts on. For my first couple of builds I used the wood version that Ken Cierpilowski (KMG Guitars) used to sell. Same mechanics, but lighter weight wood. Ken's version had some adjusmsnet to fit variuous pin spacing—the holes for the wing-nut bolts were oblong and allowed you to refine the alignment.

One of the really nice things about this style clamp is the easy squeeze-out removal without having to work around any clamps.



Some info:
http://harvestmoonguitars.com/kennethmichaelguitars/bridgeclamp.html
http://www.kitguitarsforum.com/archives/threads.php?id=3625_0_5_0_C

I now use a vacuum clamp for new builds and most repairs, and a StewMac style for some re-glues where I need a little more pressure on a wayward wing that I don't want. to thin/shape further.

If you want to glue the bridge on in this fashion, I think just building your own makes the most sense. It doesn't have to be metal; a scrap of 3/4" plywood with threaded inserts will work fine.

I used to glue bridges on in this way. However, I am now much happier with a handful of clamps from StewMac like these:

https://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/T ... lamps.html

I find that three or more clamps like this work better than anything else I have tried. With the leveling screw, they stay put while you are getting everything positioned, which is helpful. And using multiple clamps helps to deal with any oddness in how the parts fit together. These make the process fast, easy and accurate. For me, anyway.

Ah yes wing nuts from the top would make sense. I was thinking you would have to reach inside. But still, I don't see an adjustment for pin spacings so you would need one for every bridge design.

Once upon a time, long long ago, in a land far away......
I used to use short "drywall" type screws. I would put the bridge in place and drill small pilot holes through the bridge pin holes into the top and bridge plate. When it came time to glue the bridge I would screw it in place using a screw gun on a low torque setting (and then hand tighten the screws). It went pretty quick. I would also put some clamps on the bridge wings. It worked O.K. and you didn't have to fool around inside the sound hole.
I made some wooden clamp extensions for F body clamps, and that is what I use now. Stew Mac's soundhole clamps look like the hot setup, so maybe I will try making something similar.

Clay--

Those leveling screws on the StewMac soundhole clamps really do make a difference in the frustration level. Without them, I feel like I need six hands. With them, everything is much more manageable.

One down side of this style of bridge clamp is it works fine with Titebond Original and Fish glues, ep*xy too for beaters with destroyed tops but for low open time glues such as hot hide glue (never the bottled variety for bridges) this method takes too long to get things in place and snugged down.

In our commercial world all our bridges are glued on with Hot Hide Glue with the rare exception of ep*xy for beaters with destroyed tops. We use the Stew-Mac bridge gluing caul and at times up to four long reach clamps and we use a method to preposition and ready the primary clamp so that things can be snugged down easily in under ten seconds. It's important with HHG to not let it jell at all before things are in place.

LMI used to sell a bridge clamping tool like this (probably still do) and I use it. The LMI version allows some adjustment for different spacing of the bolts, which is good. The best feature of this design is the way it presses down the wings of the bridge, once the middle part is secured. The bad part of the design is the fiddly nature of the bolts through the pin holes and needing to secure them inside against the bridge plate. And you need to drill at least two holes through the top to do it, and get some glue dripping through. It takes some time, making it unsuitable for HHG, and you can’t use it for a pinless bridge. And yes - you could easily make your own.

I have adapted the LMI version of this system in exactly the way Mr McKenna said. Forget the screws through the pinholes. Whack the jig on using a single big bridge clamp in the centre, then use the screw-down feature to press down the wings. It is super fast and very effective, with HHG, for any type of bridge. Now my preferred system.

My concern about these sorts of bridge clamping jigs (other than the things already mentioned in other posts above) is that, while there is certainly pressure pressing down across the whole bridge, and decent clamping pressure in the middle due to the bolts, there is nothing pressing up from the inside out at the wings. Maybe that doesn't matter for many people, but I like solid clamping at 3-4 spots along the bridge, including 1 clamp on each wing. Plus the clamps are faster, which I need for HHG. I have actually used HHG with this sort of bridge clamping jig, but you do need to heat the parts and hustle through the process.

I clamped it with multiple c clamps. Worked great....even amounts of squeeze out all around.

Thanks for all the advice


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