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Glue for carbon fiber rods?

Posted by Hans on September 14, 2018 at 8:31am in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

Hi All,

I'm going to build a cigar box bass and my plan is to reinforce the neck with carbon fiber rods.

Does anybody have experience with carbon fiber rods? What kind of glue do you use to glue them into the neck? Epoxy? Titebond? Something else?

Thanks!

Hans

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Replies

  • ghm September 17, 2018 at 10:56am

    Where do you guys get your carbon fiber from.  I know StewMac sells them but they are pricey.

    • Tim Hooper > ghm September 19, 2018 at 6:16pm

      I'm another model aeroplane builder.  Most model/hobby shops here in the UK sell carbon fibre in both rod and tube formats in various sizes.

      Arrow shafts might be an alternative source.

      Tim

      • Taffy Evans > Tim Hooper September 19, 2018 at 11:31pm

        I don't know but does an arrow shaft bend when pressure is applied between the thumbs? If it does It will probably bend with the neck.

        Taff

    • Hans > ghm September 18, 2018 at 10:54am

      I got mine from a German luthiery supplier, sort of the European equivalent of StewMac, and they were pricey as well.

      I think they're pricey wherever you get them. I coudn't find cheap ones anywhere...

  • BrianQ. September 15, 2018 at 3:03am

    Good luck, Hans. Let us know how it comes out?

    • Hans > BrianQ. September 15, 2018 at 4:50am

      I will. Will be a slow process though, because I don't have much time for guitar building these days and I alsmost exclusively work with hand tools...

      Thanks for all the good glue advice, guys!

      • Taffy Evans > Hans September 16, 2018 at 7:23am

        Hi, I use carbon fibre quite a bit in necks and reinforcement inside the guitar. Not CBG's.

        I would recommend not using rod or tube in a neck,but a carbon fibre bar. When inside a tight fitting slot in the neck a bar has  a far greater resistance to bending. Take bar or series of thinner strips bonded together, with dimensions of say 12mm x 5mm and try to bend it, I find that it will not bend, but a carbon rod would have to be quite a lot bigger to resist the same bending force. 

        I think that a rod or tube would resist compression from end to end better than resisting the bending/bowing movement in a neck.

        With a bar I use a firm push fit and no glue, then glue on the fingerboard. The good thing about carbon fibre in a CBG neck is lightness.

        Taff

        • Hans > Taffy Evans September 16, 2018 at 8:30am

          I'm a bit confused with the wording, Taffy, but I think what you call a bar is exactly what I called a rod here... The things I'm going to use are rectangular and 10 x 5 mm.

          So you don't glue them at all? Why?

          • Taffy Evans > Hans September 16, 2018 at 5:34pm

            Hi Hanns, in the manufacturers parts list that I buy from bar is flat rod is round. In any case your on the right track. Just so others are not confused.

            I don't glue because the tightness of the fit of the bar in its slot forces any glue out as the bar is pushed in, and any glue film left is minimal. But you have have a tight fit end to end also. 

            If one does not have a tight fit then l would use glue to fill any void in the slot.

            Taff

            • Hans > Taffy Evans September 17, 2018 at 8:35am

              Thanks, Taffy!

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