my own Soundboard

[Ron Nossaman]

>Hi Greg. One particular thing I noted from the Bolduc soundboard
>installation seminar was his plug for Bolduc glue. It is a white liquid glue
>that appears much like Titebond. It has a long working life like Titebond,
>but dries to a glass-like hardness like hide glue (very much unlike Titebond
>and other "white" glues). It seemed to me to be the best of both worlds:
>hard glass-like bond, but long working time for the one-person shop to
>install a board. I'm sure it is available from Pianotek.
>
>Terry Farrell


Terry,
I don't much like to see Titebond lumped in with "white" glues like this,
because it's not a white glue, and is a far cry from the Elmer's Glue-All
that seems to be taken as the generic standard for white glue. Then there
is the PVA sold as Titebond Wood Molding glue and the PVA the supply houses
sell (same stuff).  Titebond seems to me to be a stronger bond than PVA,
though PVA is nice to work with, and the only use I've found for Glue-All
is sizing key balance rail holes, because it doesn't click. It ain't the
same stuff, and Titebond is already far more glue than is required for
soundboard and/or general woodwork. Titebond II doesn't dry as hard as
original Titebond, at least not any time soon, and has the indelible yellow
dye that I find offensive. It is water resistant, if that is important to
you. It isn't, particularly, to me. I haven't tried Customback's regular
MPA, but I did buy a gallon of their MPA II. It didn't dry nearly as hard
as even Titebond II (even after  three months, though it was about the same
after a year), doesn't have the obnoxious yellow dye, was very water
resistant, stuck like gangbusters to EVERYTHING (including clamps), and
solidified in the jug before I got half way through the gallon - a little
over three months in my case. That was about a year and a half ago, and I
just went out and checked some of that squeeze out again on a bunch of
poplar I glued up back then. It's good and hard now, and a light brown in
color. 

The MPA suite of glues seems to be worth a try, and appears to be good
super adhesive stuff. I wouldn't advise buying more at a time than you can
use up in the advertised (six month, I think I remember) shelf life, and
you may have to modify your cleanup procedures and philosophies to
accommodate it, but it does look like good glue. 

Del, have you ever had a problem with the shelf life of this stuff, or did
I just get the one that was lost behind the bottling machine for three months?

Ron N