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The other day I glued the bridge onto my dad's uke I ask about in a different post. I had thinned the top too much and was really expecting it to explode on me. Since I was mostly doing it to string it up and watch it explode, I wasn't concerned about gluing the bridge on well. I located it with pins in the old string holes, but I'm not set up for ukes. My vacuum clamp is too big to seal on the top. None of my clamps fit right No fancy cauls.

So, I just heated it up, slathered on some HHG, wiggled it a little bit to encourage squeeze out, and held it in place for a few minutes. Seemed to work fine. The problem is, the top held together. Now what? Can I leave it? If it's that easy with HHG, why the fuss? Why clamp at all?

Thanks,

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

That's the beauty of HHG. The guy I learned alot from when I was a kid didn't clamp bridges. (Classicals). He had a timer. He'd hold them for 5 minutes, but wouldn't do anything to stress it for 4 hours. I clamp them, but only after holding them for 5 minutes. I suppose my clamps aren't necessary.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

In an article on classicals in GAL, the author decribed rubbed HHG joints as the strongest. He said that bridges applied in this manner are very difficult to remove. Possibly, a little more rubbing than you did might be standard, but I do not know. The author said that you rub it until you feel the glue start to grab, then postion it and hold it.

Thanks for these reminders. I think both of you are making the same point about the thin glue line being important.

'Rubbing' a joint (which works especially well with HHG and fish glue, but also with the 'yellow' glues to some extent) is really just a process for working the excess glue out of the joint, I think. Something about fluid physics must be at work- a bit of back-and-forth movement can substitute for quite a lot of direct (hand or clamp) pressure.

And, of course, the tendency for HHG and fish glue to 'draw in' the joint with drying seems almost magical.

Cheers
John

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll just leave it then. Top still hasn't ripped off - coming up on 24 hours now.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom