Posted on July 1, 2024May 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Liquid Hide and White Glue Questions: Liquid Hide and White Glue by Dale Zimmerman Originally published in American Lutherie #101, 2010 JM from the Internet asks: Both liquid hide glue and white glue are reviled by a lot of luthiers, but I suspect that a lot of highly regarded instruments were made using these glues, since these were widely used before yellow glue was invented. This makes me want to take a more objective look at these glues. Does anyone have a comprehensive comparison of the qualities of these glues and also of hot hide glue and yellow glue? Dale Zimmerman from Franklin International in Columbus, Ohio responds: As JM suggested, there are clearly differences between the various types of glue, and luthiers have learned to especially appreciate the characteristics of hot hide glue and yellow glue and feel less comfortable with liquid hide glue and white glue. With that in mind, it might be good to start with the fact that there is almost no difference in strength between the various categories of products. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 30, 2024May 14, 2025 by Dale Phillips Dulcimer 101 Dulcimer 101 by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #98, 2009 There's a good reason why dulcimers get no respect. They are most often judged by their worst players. No one faced with a no-talent, beginner guitarist says, “That instrument isn’t worth a damn.” But when confronted by someone trying to strum the dulcimer and warble through “Amazing Grace,” that’s exactly the attitude that most of us adopt — “That instrument isn’t worth my time.” But if you’ve ever heard the likes of Marks Biggs, Leo Kretzner, Harvey Reid, or Janita Baker, just to name a few, you know that the instrument is only limited by the ability and imagination of the player. So please leave your attitude at the door. I quit building dulcimers after about eighty pieces. When I ran out of market I moved on to other instruments. Guitars and banjos may be more complicated, but I never felt that I had outgrown dulcimers. Recently I met dulcimer teacher Dinah Ansley. Teachers of obscure instruments often become hubs of like-minded people. After examining and playing a couple pieces I had left after a decade of nonbuilding, Dinah told me that if I would make dulcimers again she would recommend them to her students. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of the Articles Online featured on our website for Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 3 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. MEMBERS: login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 6, 2024May 5, 2025 by Dale Phillips Accelerator for Superglue and More Accelerator for Superglue and More by Chris Pile Originally published in American Lutherie #10, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 I would like to inform fellow members of recent developments in the cyanoacrylate area of my repair business. The makers of Jet have added two new products to their line which have quickly become indispensable in the completion of my daily work. The old, reliable Jet and Super-Jet have been joined by Slo-Jet and Jet-Set. If you remember, Jet is the familiar thin, quick-setting superglue, and Super-Jet is thicker and slower to dry. Slo-Jet is even thicker and much slower to dry, consequently filling gaps and holes even better than was previously possible. As a matter of fact, it dries so slowly I’ve no idea how long it would take to cure if I wasn’t using the other new product — Jet-Set. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on August 1, 2022May 19, 2025 by Dale Phillips Separating Glued Joints Separating Glued Joints by Nick Hayden Originally published as Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #7, 1975 Here’s a good method for separating glue. I’ve taken so many tops off without breaking, it isn’t even funny. First of all, you have to get white vinegar, then heat it up. It has to be hot. Work it into the glue joint. Use a razor knife and a small brush. The glue will turn white and you can work it loose. I told this to Bill Spigelsky, and he couldn’t get over it, when he tried it. ◆
Posted on August 1, 2022May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Epoxy Epoxy by Paul Jacobson Originally published in Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #90, 1978 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 For the contemporary luthier, epoxy opens up an entire realm of innovative techniques never before possible. It can be more than a mere substitute for earlier, less satisfactory materials; it can make way for totally new design concepts in the luthier’s art. Epoxy is so different from any material used in the past by luthiers that it requires a whole new set of assumptions about application possibilities and handling techniques. Many luthiers who have had any experience at all with epoxy think of it as merely a kind of glue and may substitute it on occasion for Elmer’s. To be sure, epoxy is an excellent adhesive, but to think of it as just glue is to have a limited concept of its basic properties and its vast potential in lutherie. Epoxy, the Material. Epoxy is one of a group of chemicals known as thermoset plastics in which change from liquid to solid occurs by endothermic chemical reaction rather than ectothermic hardening or volatilization of a solvent. The reaction is nonreversible; epoxy, once hardened, cannot be melted with heat or dissolved in any solvent. Heat of 150°F or higher will soften it slightly, but as the heat increases the epoxy undergoes molecular deterioration rather than melting and tends to turn crumbly. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
