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I have read different approaches on removing glue squeeze out, and on whether to remove it all.

I am gluing braces on a Western Redwood Cedar top. Once the glue has dried, I take a sharp chisel and remove the squeeze out. The problem with this is that it sometimes removes small splinters of wood. Anyway, that is the approach that I take.

What is your approach?

Thanks

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

I wait till the sweeze-out is the consistancy of chewed bubble gum or kinda leatheie then scrape off with a sharp chisel. at this point it will come off with out pulling fibers out. If you wait till the glue is dried hard you will have the problem you are having with cedar, redwood, and sometimes spruce.

As soon as I glue the brace I use a damp rag or paper towel around a small piece of wood to get into the corners,while the glue is wet-works great.

I use a soda straw and try to clean up as much squeeze-out as possible as soon as I see it. This might be a problem depending on what type of clamping caul you're using. I get it to work pretty good in my go-bar deck.

John

John, do you end up swallowing much of the glue like that? Yuch!


My method varies, or it did when I wasn't retired from building. I like to let it setup rubbery and then clean off what I can. Sometimes I like to let it harden. I enjoy snapping it off afterward. It's a little like bubble-wrap.   

I try not to introduce any moisture if I can, but I have used the damp paper towel method to clean off most before it ever sets up.

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With Titebond I use a stick and baby wipe to remove when wet.

With hide glue I let is gel and use a wedge of spruce to cut away from the brace then peel away the excess.

I remove the glue wet with a piece of scrap top wood, cut like a skew chisel on the tip. Usually one quick stroke with a box cutter & its sharp. Does a nice clean job. Then wipe with a damp paper towel to prevent those unsightly yellow stains.
We're all pretty anal, aren't we???

I like to use one of my old 6" rules to scrape up semi dry titebond and peel off HHG.Works fine.

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

I let it get leathery, then scrape with a sharp chisel. Going to use HHG for the first time on the next one, so this may change.

-Mark

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Pullman, WA

The more I know, the more I know I don't know.

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Have you noticed the glue sqeeze out being sucked back in to the joint as it goes off ?
I think cleaning it up too premature ,can rob the join of the amount of glue required. (Titebond)

KiwiCraig

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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There's suppose to be squeeze out? Rod True38803.7531944444

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[QUOTE=KiwiCraig]
Have you noticed the glue sqeeze out being sucked back in to the joint as it goes off ?
I think cleaning it up too premature ,can rob the join of the amount of glue required. (Titebond)

KiwiCraig[/QUOTE]
Craig...I think it's just shrinkage as the glue drys. If it can get back in, it would mean you have a gap in the joint. The glue can check out, but it can't check back in!

I use jedi mind control for most of my structural repairs.
Actually I used to use a sharpened stick and a rag but changed to the straw tecnique when I read about it here last time.
Evan

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http://www.NewYorkGuitarRepair.com

[QUOTE=Evan Gluck] I use jedi mind control for most of my structural repairs.[/QUOTE]
Powerful the force is in young Gluck-luthier!

Maybe it is shrinkage Carlton.I thought it may be the spruce absorbing more of the available moisture

KiwiCraig

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CRAIG LAWRENCE of AUSTRALIA
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The fact that the interior of a guitar is not usually given a finish gives a
tiny margin of safety that is not there for any exterior work. (Please note
that I am not talking about visible blobs or smears here. ) Any joint that is
receiving finish has to be perfectly clean of course.

As a beginning guitarmaker, every tidbit of new information is a real eye-
opener for me. In the cabinet shop, all squeeze-out was immediately and
immaculately cleaned with a damp cloth. Always resulting in raised grain
in those inside corners that are so tedious to sand or scrape perfectly.

When I first saw Charles Fox put a top in his
vacuum press with all the braces in place, I was skeptical when he said to
wait for 10 minutes and then just scrape it off, but it was obvious that it
would not be practical to clean it immediately, since it had to stay in the
press until the glue had grabbed well. Needless to say, the glue peeled
right off, and I was very impressed. All those years of hurrying to wipe the
glue from the interior of a big cabinet flashed in my mind...

Charles felt that the less moisture that was introduced onto the guitar
wood the better, and that sure makes sense to me.

The Taylor online videos show them using a blunted chisel instead of a
sharp one. I thought there was a pretty good chance that they knew what
they were doing, so I nervously ground a blunt square end (about 2mm
vertical) on my glue cleaning chisel. It works great! Easy to go fast without
danger of catching the wood. The same video shows the use of a razor
blade to get into the corners of the braces. A utility knife blade with the
tip squared off also works well for this.

Brook

    I put all of the braces on a top or back and set it into my vacuum box. After about two or three minutes, I pull it out and clean the squeeze out up with a blunt chisel edge. Then it's back in the box for about twenty minutes to finish it up. At that point, the glue is thick and rubbery and cleans up really nicely.

In the vac clamp, the top or back can be safely pulled out and worked after just ten minutes or so, but I still give them 20 minutes under the diaphragm.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

It seems I'm in the wrong. I let my glue dry and then remove with a sharp chisel.

Last night, I tried removing glue from around the fan braces and I found myself removing more wood than I care to.

Are there structural or tone/sound disadvantages to not cleaning up the glue? I think for this one, my second, I will leave the glue around the fan braces and revise my glue cleanup approach for the third.

Thanks

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Guitars...One's too many...Twenty is not enough.

[QUOTE=dubell] Are there structural or tone/sound disadvantages to not cleaning up the glue? [/QUOTE]
Doug...If there's a lot, it could damp the top's vibrations. I think, though, that clean joints have become a sign of good craftsmanship among craftsmen. It has also trickled down into the general consciousness to an extent that people will bypass a superior instrument if they see glue.

And, Doug, keep that sharp chisel away from your glue lines!!!