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After reading Steve Saville’s post about Epoxied bridge removal I started wondering about using epoxy for bridges and would like to see a discussion about it.
So do any of you use epoxy for bridges and why?

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

I wonder what's the advantage unless the soundboard was badly damaged from a removal attempt and you needed to fill some huge gaps.

You would have to mix the epoxy and any mistake in the ratio would result in an uncurable and difficult to remove mess.

I think Titebond I would be the best in terms of quickness (in a production setting), and hot hide glue in terms of removability and strength.

I had considered using epoxy to glue a bridge to a damaged soundboard with large gaps, but I was hesitant because I was afraid that the bond is unremovable, so I did it the hard way by eliminating the gap.

It goes without a saying that you should use professional epoxies like System 3 or West because hardware store epoxy cures into a rubbery substance.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

An epoxy joint is easy to separate. Heat it, and that's all.

That said... I'm not sure I would use it for gluing a brand new bridge on a brand new body. It gives you the time to place the bridge correctly, but that's the only advantage I see. Epoxy is harder to clean out (you have to use solvents to clean it well and that might affect the top finish. It also takes a long time to cure and some epoxies are little sensitives on the mix ratio.

You better take the time to improve your gluing set up to make it quick and precise.

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Francis Richer, Montréal
Les Guitares F&M Guitars

For me the question is more, "why?" Titebond is forgiving, consistent, and easy to remove when you need to. Hide glue and fish glue have their fans (and I'm one of them). Why use epoxy if you don't need to?

In my repairs through the years, I found that Titebond was the best choice, Dave. Epoxy does have its place, and care should be used when choosing the brand, storing, and mixing it. However, its bond is not eternal anymore than superglue turned out to be. A little heat, and nearly all glues yield.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks for the replies.
I was just wondering.
I'm happy with fish glue but have a friend that swears buy epoxy.
Wondered if I was missing something.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

I think it has something to do with using epoxy to glue fingerboards to avoid getting water into the joint.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Well he does use epoxy on finger boards and I understand that but he also uses epoxy on bridges, thats what I was having a hard time understanding.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

when building Smallman copy I use epoxy as he do in other case fish glue

What type of epoxy is it, the 5 minute stuff or the longer set? I started using fish glue last year, i'm loving the stuff, its really sticky, cleans up nice with water, and drys clear, great for that neck scarf joint. I can see not using it on a fretboard if a players hands get that sweaty. Most of the time, the fretboard/neck is covered by a finish, after the fretboard is on, sometimes not. I guess if you use it on a fretboard installation, i'd seal the glue line with something to keep the moisture out. Apoxie is thick to, and can make it hard to have a nice clamp pressure.

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Jason Moe
LaCrosse WI 54601

That is another issue with epoxy, clean up is going to be hard. It's bad enough with hide glue or titebond that all the necessary clamps for bridge gets in the way (assuming you're not using a Fox jig) but at least with hide you can clean everything up after the glue dries with hot water. Not so with epoxy.

Like I said I would only use epoxy for bridge if the soundboard is badly torn up from removal where it would leave a huge amount of gap.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

newer ewer use 5 min epoxy for joint like bridge
epoxy I use is from this co. http://www.r-g.de/en/
90min time to gel
and also on the front page they give some sheet where they prove that their epoxy is not toxicit or ....

after some experience you will find when proper amount of epoxy is applied there is no need for cleaning action
and in let say last two years and in the future all my fingerboard are and will be glued with epoxy..

best

Thanks Todd, That was my thinking. like I said I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

In my thread that I talked about removing a bridge that was installed with epoxy, I was not endorsing the use of epoxy for that application. Like others have said, there are better choices for normal bridge installation.
Instead of epoxy, you should always use super glue for bridges.







Just kidding!

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.