Wax for Easy Glue Cleanup - Luthier Tips du Jour Mailbag
In this episode, luthier Robbie O’Brien shows off his O’Brien Guitars Lutherie Wax on a bridge that needs some glue cleaned up.
Video Transcription
[on-screen text reads: Luthier Tips du Jour Mailbag]
Mailbag question: Do you have any tips for cleaning the glue off of the sides of the bridge when gluing it on?
Robert O'Brien: Today's Tips du Jour mailbag question comes to us from Chile. "Robert, I've always had trouble cleaning the glue off the sides of the bridge when gluing it to the guitar. Do you have any tips to make this easier? Aaron in Chile."
As a matter of fact, yes, there's a real simple trick for that. Let's go over to the bench, and I'll show you.
Tape the bottom of the bridge
All right. Here's a couple of bridges I have ready to go on guitars. You notice I put a piece of tape on the bottom [The tape is applied so it is longer and wider than the bridge itself]. The reason why I did that is because I don't want to have any of what I'm going to get ready to do get on the bottom of the bridge. Technical term for that is bad, and your bridge could come flying off. That would be really bad.
Apply a light coat of shellac
I'm going to start by just putting a light coat of shellac over the top of the bridge. This helps seal any dust in the pores. Once again, make sure you don't get any on the bottom of that bridge. You want to make sure you have a good glue joint. This should flash off and dry very quickly.
Apply a thin coat of wax
The next step is to put a thin coat of wax. Now, there's some guy named O'Brien that came up with a special product called Lutherie Wax, and he makes it right here in his kitchen at the O'Brien Guitars workshop. His wife loves it when he does that. Take a little bit of steel wool and just rub it on the top of the bridge. Now, I formulated this wax so it dries very hard and makes a nice finish for the bridge as well. I get the best results if I put it on, rub it in with the steel wool, let it sit for 20 or 30 minutes, and then come in and buff it out with a little bit more steel wool and a soft rag. It even smells good, too. Not only will your guitar sound good, but it will smell good as well.
Buff it out with steel wool and a soft cloth
All right. After you give it 20 or 30 minutes, come in and hit it with steel wool. Buff it nice and clean, and then with a soft cloth, come in and buff it to a nice satin silky smooth finish. Very appealing to the touch and to the eye. The best thing about it... When you glue it to the top of the guitar, the glue squeezed out around the corners/around the edges just comes right off.
[Robert easily removes the glue from the bridge sides by rubbing a small wood stick that has the end cut down to a thin point against the sides of the bridge]
Thank you very much for your question, Aaron. I think if you use this method, you'll find that the glue cleanup is a breeze.
[on-screen text reads: More Luthier Tips and online courses available at www.obrienguitars.com. Private and small group guitar building and finishing instruction available.]
