Glue choice for butt joint query

Kalimna · December 2018

Greetings folks,
A very quick question here. I have 2 necks to attach to my ukulele project and would like a bit of advice please.
The necks are butt jointed to the body with a single bolt to hold in place whilst the glue dries. The bolts will be permanent, so the glue wont be taking the full strain of the joint.

I was going to use 30min Z-Poxy resin, but im not convinced the pack i have hasnt degraded a bit - its been open a couple of years...

I have some cascamite and Titebond Extend (supposed to be like Original, but with longer open time - not sure how like the original it is though), and also Titebond I.

The necks are too awkward to use Titebond I - open time not long enough.

So which glue?
Titebond extend, with possibility it might not work as intended?
Cascamite, with a little extra moisture introduced to the top (under fingerboard)?
Or just bite the £18 bullet and order some more epoxy?

Cheers,
Adam

octatonic · December 2018

Open time for Titebond Original is 20 mins.
That should be long enough.

If I needed longer I’d add a bit of water to it.

Kalimna · December 2018

To be honest, ive found it tacks up sooner than that, and this is very much a one-shot thing. But I'll certainly consider it.
Would you reckon tb has enough strength for the butt joint? Fingerboard extension certainly.
Cheers,
Adam

octatonic · December 2018

I’m not sure how much pressure a uke exhibits so cannot day for sure but if a bolt is staying in then I would guess it does.

I’ve used Titebond on several acoustic guitar bridges, if it wasn’t strong enough then they would have ripped off by now.

Re open time.
Have you ever worked with hide/bone glue?
Open time is about 10 seconds.
One trick for reflowing hide glue is to use a hairdryer.
This works to a degree with Titebond too.

Kalimna · December 2018

No i havent worked with hide glue - i dont have the setup for it. However, im aware of its *much* shorter open time - even with warming the parts beforehand and doing glue-ups under a heat lamp....
My main concern with titebond is that on a neck butt joint, id be gluing end grain to long grain. On a bridge, it's long to long, albeit rotated 90 degrees.
Perhaps im overthinking it.
Your advice is most useful, thank you,
Adam

Danielsguitars · December 2018

Titebond is stronger than the wood, all my early builds were made using it and that was years ago, they're still together

I use hot hide glue now not because it's supposed give better tone more if i want to take something apart

Kalimna · December 2018

Im happy using Titebond, and understand its strength as a bonding agent. My query is really related to the end grain - to - long grain joint, which i understand is a very poor join, and in this instance epoxy would be a better choice.

However, the added bolt may suffice to maintain the joint strength, if that makes sense.

Again, your thoughts/advice are very much appreciated.

Adam

Danielsguitars · December 2018

All my electric joints are tenons and the acoustics are a tapered dovetail joint which i what I thought ukes were but i know nothing about them tbh

They're the only glues I've used so can't help with other types

I use cascamite to glue laminates and caps, that's what it's designed for not joints as far as i know

Kalimna · December 2018

Ahhhh, I see. For this ukulele, I am using a butt joint betwixt neck and body, so the glue surface advantage of a tenon (be it straight or dovetail) is not there.

I suspect I may just go with the titebond anyway. If it fails, the clean up will be straightforward and I can just unbolt the neck anyway.

Cheers,

Adam

Danielsguitars · December 2018

from what I've looked at if it's a butt joint then it's bolted anyway, glue and bolt would be my choice

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Glue choice for butt joint query

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