Working Time For Ca Glue

[SawDust_Junkie]

I am working on inlaying my fret board. Rosewood with mother of pearl inlays. I have CA glue and Titebond original glue. I am pretty pleased so far with how well the routing for the inlays has gone using a dremel tool, but inevitably, there are small 1/64" gaps or less around the inlays.

So, I planned on using the sawdust from the routing to make a glue paste to fill in around the inlays. The question I have is how long a working time do you have with CA glue if you mix a paste using the Rosewood sawdust? Would I be better using the Titebond glue ?

I planned on mixing the CA glue and sawdust and then drawing it into a syringe to apply it in the inlay cavities. Is this a good method for the process I am describing ?

Edited February 12, 2006 by SawDust_Junkie

[Clavin]

Basically no, it's not a good method.

The way to I do it, and by the way- you will always havea small gap aropund the inlay, no natter what. There needs to be some gap around it, otherwise it could pop out if the woods around it contract too much.

First off, rosewood dust will look greener mixed with any glue. It may be a better method to take small slivers of actual color matched rosewood and press them into the wider gap areas. Then glue up as you would normally.

Water thickness CA, such as the Stew Mac types, have a near 1 minute or less working time once they contact anything. The method for the dust works best with ebony mainly, and what you do is place the inlay in the cavity, place dust around all the edges, pressing it into the gaps best possible, then glue around the inlay and over the dust, letting the CA wick under the inlay, taking the dust in the voids with it. Then give it al least overnight to set up. Don't use accelorators to speed up the dry times, it sometimes whitens the glues.

Then after it's leveled go around and touch up any bubbles, etc... with more CA.

Good luck.

Craig Lavin

www.handcraftinlay.com

[SawDust_Junkie]

So, you don't place any glue in the cavity before inserting the inlay ? You just let the CA glue wick into the cavity ? That just doesn't seem like it will be enough glue to secure the inlay. I would think you would want at least some glue underneath the inlay, to make sure it adheres to the underlying wood and form a bond.

[Clavin]

It depends on the inlays. Vines, etc.. with little area underneath are fine if you wick it under. The glue is that thin, and moves that fast. Even with the Indian I just posted I did it that same way, and he's over 5" wide, and I know even though some (little) air is underneath, it's never coming up. Ca has a nice property as well that it shrinks as it dries. That draws it under, and you can add more around the edges later. You'll see this after leveling as recessed areas, and pulled down glue spots.

If you put too much under it you may have problem manupulating it later, and it may splatter as you press the inlay in. Another trick is use a thin layer of epoxy underneath, (24hour) so you can maybe move things a bit, and use CA around the edges as stated previously. That way you have a little more feelings of glue being behind it. On a flat inlay like the indian (no radius, ect.. ) there should be almost no room for glue behind the inlay as it is if you routed evenly and clean. The CA fills up all the available space, and seeps in fast. Ca works very fast, and you have to plan ahead, and be methodical.

Good luck.

Craig Lavin

[Southpa]

I've tried various ways to fill those gaps myself. Sometimes its the only way to learn, try it out on some mockups first tho. I found that premixing ANY form of dust with CA results in little unworkable chunks 30 seconds after mixing. I've had good results by dropping thicker glue and then packing dust in with my finger, literally rubbing it in. I just finished building up some overcut nut slots ( ) with bone dust using that same method.