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Rough up surfaces before gluing

Using the Toothing Iron



i-4872 Updated 11/07

Adding a little roughness, or "tooth," prepares a gluing surfaces for better adhesion. The Toothing Iron's sharp teeth score wood with tiny parallel grooves to rough-up the wood surface, especially on dense, oily woods as rosewood and ebony. These woods don't permit much glue to penetrate their fibers.

Toothing irons are used by Martin Guitars and other guitarmakers when preparing guitar bridges and fingerboards for gluing. Toothing irons are also great for cleaning up old glue.

Push or pull at any angle
Pushing or pulling the iron scores the gluing surface with small parallel grooves. Create grooves with the grain or across the grain.

We've found that vintage Gibson guitars often have grooves running lengthwise under the bridge, while vintage Martins have a crosshatch pattern.

For scraping and cleaning
The Toothing Iron is also used for scraping dried glue from the guitar top after removing a bridge.

Sharpen the Toothing Iron
Sharpen the tool by holding it against a belt sander or grinding wheel. Hold the tool perpendicular to the abrasive to grind the end perfectly flat and square to the sides. This sharpens the teeth.









Toothing Iron


Acoustic Bridges


'Pyramid' Guitar Bridge


Classical Guitar Bridges


Martin 25.34" Scale Fingerboard


Behlen Ground Hide Glue


Franklin Titebond Glue


Franklin Liquid Hide Glue


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