Official Luthiers Forum!

For those of you who are looking to use hot hide glue in their guitars, but are shying away from professional grade glue pots, here is one to consider - the Lil' Dipper.

Is the past these have come free with the purchase of regular size Crock Pots, and can be found at almost any Good Will, Savers, Value Village or other large second hand store.

So far this weekend the glue pot has held right in between 146-148 degrees fahrenheit - just about perfect for hot hide glue. It unlikely they are all precisely calibrated, and there is no user set temperature controller built in, but this one is in the right zone.

Been using one for years-works great

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Mine runs a bit cool. Need an aluminum foil hat to keep the heat in. But if the lid is too complete it's too hot. Basically works though.

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Mike Lindstrom

I use one as well, which keeps the temperature just right with the lid off, provided that the room is warm. If the room is cold (like it is now), then it doesn't get quite hot enough. But as Mike says, it gets too hot when fully closed. I use the lid that it comes with, but put a stick across the pot to keep it open a bit.

But if the room is cold enough to cause trouble for the glue pot, it causes trouble when gluing parts as well... gotta heat everything up before applying glue, and work fast.

Yep mine runs a little too cold when open and a little too hot when closed up. Its not a big deal to move the lid on or off or partially on to get it where you need it to be on any given day. the nice thing is I can keep it covered up tight to get it hotter the water hot faster when I turn it on and also when I put in a fresh batch of glue in it is nice to have teh extra heat to get the glue up to temperature a little faster. When everything is where I want it, I scoot the lid over to where it will let the temp fall a bit. Then just keep an eye on it. Too cool, close it a bit more; too warm, open a bit more. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

I picked one up at Value Village yesterday. Couldn't find any BRW sideboards in the furniture section, though! I'll test the temp tomorrow.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

My daughter is a guitar tech (brooklynlutherie.com) and she found a leg waxing pot for $9.99 new is perfect. Since she does repair, she usually uses smaller batches of glue. She will mix a larger batch, put it is small fast-food ketchup containers with lids and freezes them a couple of tablespoons worth. She then takes out one or two and floats them in the pot.

Ed, Can you ask her what brand and model it is? sounds promising...

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Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

I was just looking for an alternative to the expensive professional glue pots and saw this thread. I too ran across the Lil Dipper on Amazon. They sell it by itself for $9.97.

I also found this NESCO brand crock pot that is thermostatically controlled for $21.99. Which means that it may be possible to tweak it for glue pot temps.

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Dean

Back when I was doing a lot of refinishing and new finishes with lacquer, I used a cheap CrockPot to heat my mix before I sprayed. I'd mix the lacquer with thinner and reducer in the cup, and set it in the pot with about 2 inches of water. Then I'd wipe down the body or neck with a tackcloth, and hang it in the booth. Piddled around for a few minutes, and when the fluids were warm I'd grab the cup, screw it onto the gun, and off I'd go! Made the finish flow out very nicely, and I didn't need to use as much thinner or reducer just shooting room temp fluids.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince