Official Luthiers Forum!

When I cut my first rosette I ended up with a little bit of staining from the super glue creeping into the wood. It was annoying but I rolled with it.

I was trying to find a way to keep that from happening and had the idea to try using shellac to seal the channels before I inlaid or glued anything in. Worked a charm and I'm happy to see none of that ugly green stains that I had before.

As in all things in life, you have to enjoy the little things.

It sure helps.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

That is the solution…

Nice rosette!

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

It is a seriously nice decoration. But surely just don't use CA on the spruce top...?


Cheers Dave

I use CA or wood glue depending g on how tight I manage to get the fit when I am Inlaying. I aim for perfectly tight; if and when I fail and it is a tiny bit loose, I use wood glue to take advantage of the swelling. If using CA, ALWAYS use shellac in the channel. A few rossettes ago, I was so pleased with how well I fit it, that I forgot to pull it out and add shellac. Real bummer! That one turned into the rosette on the inside of the box

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

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

The standard sealer to stop glue from seeping into the endgrain around the rosette on softwood tops is always shellac in any post I've ever seen. I have had limited success with that, especially on redwood or cedar tops. Those 2 woods are treacherous for glue stains. Before superglue, we mostly used Titebond and no endgrain sealer, but that would also cause stains in some tops. I've tossed a number of tops over the last 40 years due to rosette stains. On my last few tops I used a light coat of polyurethane glue as a sealer before using the superglue, and that worked. PITA though! So, what's the 100%, works every time, my $ back if not fully satisfied recipe fot the shellac sealer?I have been using my regular 2# cut shellac. Thanks, Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Some people use shellac as glue - pads on woodwinds, laminated boat members, etc. Lacquer would probably work as well.

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/sh ... n-adhesive

I like that!

I’m not suggesting anyone do what I do, but then again -

I use Hot Stuff thin CA from Satellite City along with their fast accelerator, for my rosettes, purflings, bindings, and inlays. I’ve never had the dreaded staining problem occur using this glue, and this without sealing the pockets and edges. I do test the CA on a scrap of the top before gluing to see if that top is gonna be the one that stains.

I *have* had the staining occur when testing a cheaper accelerator, so I make sure to only use the Satillite City product.

Best, M

I have encountered this problem too, even after sealing the channels twice with shellac and blowing out the excess with compressed air to clean the channel and evenly distribute it up the sides. During my first build with torrefied Red Spruce, I was especially concerned about this so I asked the guys at Prewar guitars how they go about it. Their answer was simple and effective: use medium or thick CA to set the rosette initially, which is less likely to penetrate and will seal the end grain. Let it dry, then flood with thin CA to fill any small gaps.

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

Thanks Bob, I definitely want to try shellac as an adhesive in the future.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Thanks for the replies.I use Starbond superglue. Never tried anything else. Suppose I should. Good luck to all with your building.-Bob

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

I have always used nitro lacquer to seal before CA. I just didn’t have any shellac and it has always worked so I kept on using it. Spray a wet un-thinned coat and let it soak in and dry.

Nitro has not even come close to working for me. Luckily, since I'm making mostly ukes with hardwood tops, my rosette staining problems are not excessive. Still I wish I could find a cure for the staining issue, the one that typically no one else seems to have, so that I could use more softwood tops. Redwood is my favorite uke or guitar top, and it is also one of the most subseptable to CA stains in my experience. I have done about 800 tops,99% with Paua rosettes and many pearl bound. mostly hardwood with maybe 150 of those softwood. I know I have tossed out at least a dozen tops due to staining.Using clear polyurethane glue has been promising for me and epoxy works too, but both are a PITA to use. Thanks for all the replies again. Good luck with your building.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

I've been using DUCO cement to sidestep any CA staining. I haven't seen mention of that option. Am I missing something? Thanks.

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Peter Havriluk

When applying shellac, lacquer, etc., I make sure to coat the vertical sidewalls of the groove so that the spruce's exposed endgrain gets plugged. A spray gun will only coat the bottom whereas a small artist's brush is just right.

Yep, have always used a brush. Does not work for me. Tried it many many times. Best results so far have been with thin coats of clear polyurethane. The real test is redwood. If it works on redwood, it will work on anything.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso