Traveling Bridge

[The Mandolinian]

The old Kamaka was doing pretty well until I opened the case yesterday and found that the bridge had torn loose from the soundboard and had gone traveling towards the pegboard, leaving a tangle of strings.

I cleaned it up a little and then reglued it with Gorilla Glue. When I put the strings back on it decided to start traveling again, and the glue stretched out like rubber bands.

I cleaned it up again, cleaned all old glue away with a sharp woodworking chisel and sandpaper, down to fresh koa. For the second round I reglued with standard yellow glue. Hope it holds this time. I don't want it letting go in the middle of Old Town Road.

 

[clear]

Good luck! Let's hope it stays. Worse comes to worse, you can convert it into a string-thru deisgn? JK. I think the Luthier's Lounge will have it fixed should you need it.

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[John Colter]

Ah, a bridge too far. I've fixed many a bridge with standard PVA woodworking glue. Provided the surfaces were clean and flat, you should be OK. You might want to wear safety goggles while playing, until you feel fully confident!

 

[The Mandolinian]

Ah, a bridge too far. I've fixed many a bridge with standard PVA woodworking glue. Provided the surfaces were clean and flat, you should be OK. You might want to wear safety goggles while playing, until you feel fully confident!

I don't build furniture any more but still have the yellow glue around. So far it's holding. Judging from this instrument that bridge was last glued in 1959. I was surprised at how bad the gorilla worked.

 

[rustydusty]

Gorilla glue is a joke. As a life long woodworker, I tried it a couple of times and it was extremely messy to work with (foaming up) and had poor holding power. The "yellow" wood glue should hold, but I always use the gray water resistant type...

 

[M3Ukulele]

My research indicates same finding with gorilla glue. I stay away from it. Elmers carpenters glue works fine.