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[Quote]I wonder though if any of the masters of our craft (insert names like Somogyi, Fox, Olsen, etc.) use CA for binding. Any one know?[/QUOTE]

Charles Fox had an article in GAL a while ago detailing his method of binding/purfling using pipetted CA and tape.

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It's not the miles ahead, it's the stone in your shoe


In Markham,Virginia

Hi Jon. LMI or Titebond for me.

Have you cut your ledges yet? I heard you showed your guitar body to a "focus group" I hope everything is going good!.... We need pictures!

Long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

I have to agree with Hank about the fumes. It may be just my hyper-sensitivity to CA but just a small whiff and I have an allergic reaction, about an hour later, that I can only describe as an asthma attack. It took about a year of exposure to the fumes for this to develop.....beware.

I no longer keep or use CA in my shop.

Tom Armstrong

I personally don't believe that CA glue has any place in guitar building. There I said it. I used it once, for something else, made my eyes water, threw it away, won't have it in the house.

I used to use LMI white for bindings, but on the last dozen or so I've used HHG, just applying it as I go. However, on my current one I used fish glue for the bindings and found it great, if it starts to tack up too much, just brush some water on. My lutes have only ever had HHG used on them, now my guitars only have HHG or fish glue. HHG for braces and bridges, fish for everything else.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Hank/Tom your caution regarding CA is good. I was working with CA wearing a respirator in a poorly ventilated area. My eye glasses at the time had plastic nikon lenses and I noticed they were pitted after, which I can only attribute to the CA fumes.

Colin, CA does have its place in lutherie, just not in your shop and that's fine. What's important is what works for you.

In one of the Big Redbooks there is an article on Larivee where he talks about how he joins back plates by flooding them with CA. It would be interesting to know whether Larivee still does them this way.

I started using CA after reading a GAL article written by John Calkin. I know Mario Proulx uses it for binding.

Ron Belanger is right -- debate is good and it's healthy.

Lots of cheaper import guitars have bridges glued onto the tops, onto the catalyzed poly finishes, in fact, with superglue. It's not like they're flying off.

I'm not saying it's a great idea, but in terms of hard, un-gummy glue, it's hard to beat a good CA...

Besides, inlay without CA? No thanks. Epoxy's a bit too messy for me.

I have used the LMI - FCA product on Ivoroid Bindings (like it) and use Titebond Original on all my wood bindings.

Mike