Biscuit Vs Just Glue

[replaceablehead]

i need some advice on joining two pieces of ash together to make one piece of wood wide enough to cut a guitar out of.

basicaly can i get away with just wood glue. i already no that bicuiting would be better obviously but wat im realy askin is would glue be ok and how ok? thanx

[fryovanni]

If your talking about a body blank for a solid body. The question is silly, because regular butt joints have been and are the standard. Nothing wrong with biscuits, but certainly not needed.

[Hector]

just wood glue.

no need to use biscuit

[Doeringer]

Agreed, butt joint is fine and is the standard but use a good glue. Original Titebond is good and relatively inexpensive, hyde glue if you are familiar with the process is good too..

[avengers63]

That being said, there's nothing wrong with using a biscuit or three. With the width of the butt joint, the biscuits probably won't help any. BUT... they won't hurt either. Just plan carefully so they won't show when the body is cut out or be ing the middle of a pup/trem/neck rout.

Let us know how it works out for you if you decise to use them. I had a thread about this in the tools section a week or two ago, so I'm particularly interested.

[Xanthus]

http://public.fotki.com/xanthus/build-2/biscuit.html

I did biscuits for my V, and they worked fine. Of course, I found out one of mine was smack in the middle of the pickup cavity, but that's why you buy a pickup!

[replaceablehead]

i thought it might hav been the standard but i wasnt sure. thanx

[RAI6]

That being said, there's nothing wrong with using a biscuit or three.

Depends on what you're doing.

There was an example on here a few years ago. The guy thought it was a good idea to use biscuits, until the time came to carve the top.

Guess what ended up showing through the carve?

[avengers63]

That being said, there's nothing wrong with using a biscuit or three.

Depends on what you're doing. There was an example on here a few years ago. The guy thought it was a good idea to use biscuits, until the time came to carve the top. Guess what ended up showing through the carve?

That would be ANOTHER reason to plan their placements carefully, as I said to do...

Just plan carefully so they won't show when the body is cut out or be in the middle of a pup/trem/neck rout.

[westhemann]

I would never use biscuits,anymore than I would use super glue for a neck joint...

There are things you can innovate on,and things you should not...I do use finishing mails though to place my fretboard...not through the board of course...only around the perimeter to hold it in place on the centerline...then I pull the nails and cut my taper...nail holes gone...

[jaycee]

Just butt joint and save the biscuits for a cup of tea whilst the glue is drying

[westhemann]

You know...I bet shallow dowels properly place would help quite a bit on placing a fingerboard...

[avengers63]

You know...I bet shallow dowels properly place would help quite a bit on placing a fingerboard...

Here's a thought for the dowels.... put them where the markers will be.

If they're smaller in diameter than the inlay, you'll completely drill them out when making the hole for the inlay. So what if the whole thing gets drilled out of the F/B because it's only for alignment purposes anyway.

But... would the truss rod channel be right where the other side of the dowel is?

[j. pierce]

You know...I bet shallow dowels properly place would help quite a bit on placing a fingerboard...

Thorn does something like this with a Delrin dowel. And apparently PRS does the same thing, with a steel one. (It's noted on this page, about halfway down - do a find for "delrin" and you'll see it: http://www.thornguitars.com/construct-htm/step08.htm )

Here's a thought for the dowels.... put them where the markers will be.

If they're smaller in diameter than the inlay, you'll completely drill them out when making the hole for the inlay. So what if the whole thing gets drilled out of the F/B because it's only for alignment purposes anyway.

But... would the truss rod channel be right where the other side of the dowel is?

Not if you use the double dots at the 12th fret, perhaps? Although you might still have some play. Perhaps using the dots at the 24th as well. Or using off center dots. Or if you're using block inlays, route for your inlay but don't glue it in until after the fretboard is in place - that would leave you a large area to locate a dowel in, that could be trimmed off with a chisel before you put the inlay on.

[soapbarstrat]

If you want to leave the dowels in there, you can just do like Tacoma, and use wood dowels right in the fret slots

[zyonsdream]

Using dowels or biscuits when gluing wings to a neck through blank or even just gluging a few pieces together to make a body will help with one thing....creep. Eventually most wood will allow for small (or large) amounts of creep. Basically means, it lets the two boards move a little bit over time. Newer glues are not quite as bad but in a lot of cases, if you don't give adequate time for your glue to cure (not just dry) and you thickness sand your blank you might see a step show up at the joint over time. Look at older guitars and in many cases you'll see imperfections in the finish at the joint.

A biscuit or even dowel pin configuration would help to prevent the wood from creeping. That being said, I dont do it myself but just a thought on why some people would think it would be beneficial.