laminated bridge question

[A440A@aol.com]

Ron asks: 
>   Can you bend a laminated tenor bridge with hot hide glue all by
>yourself and have time to get it in the cauls and clamped before the glue
>jells? 

      If I were wrestling with an unwieldy collection of clamps and templates,
probably not.  If there is a solid form, against which multiple clamps can
pull the bridge into contact with cauls, yes.  I can certainly imagine a steel
table, with forms and clamping posts, upon which one places a stack of freshly
glued strips of veneer, and has them under pressure in two minutes.    
      Steinway built their case rims this way, all the way up to the war
years, I believe.  Even with a group of men working on the clamps, it was
several minutes before the last clamp was set, and they did it with hide glue.
Can somebody build a bridge fixture that will let them get the clamps set in a
few minutes? 
    I think the answer to whether hide is the right glue depends on available
procedures.  In conversation some time ago with Cliff Gears, ( who certainly
understands production requirements of glue),  he said that hide glue became
obsolete because it was too inconsistant in the factory setting.  Everybody
had their own ideas of how thick it should be, and the ensuing variability
caused problems in production standards.  
     In my one-person shop, I enjoy my action work more when I use it,  it
lends a dynamic to the felting process, and if everything is tuned just right,
what is left of a full baby food jar of hide glue is perfect for gluing
hammers, after all the other bushing and felt work is done. 
     I personally like hot hide glue, and have already ascribed spiritual
powers of acoustic properties to it.  No, no scientific basis for this, ( I
did say it was spiritual!), just lack of evidence to the contrary.  

Regards to all,  
Ed Foote
(anybody got convention hi-lites to toss to those of us cyber-pals that were
unable to be there????)