Binding with fish glue

[Kary Karahadian]

I've always used CA for my binding. I'm hapoy with the results and ease of use but am tiring of the fumes. Any tips/warnings when using fish glue for this task? I understand some glue the purlings in first, then follow with bindings (?). My top purling scheme uses three separate sets of puflings and I'm thinking I'm going to have to allow for some swelling when using a water based glue.

[Randy Roberts]

Kary,
Before throwing in the towel on CA, try having a fan on low blowing across your work area to carry the fumes away from your work. I've found that to pretty well eliminate the irritation the CA fumes have.

[Mario Proulx]

I bind much more complex binding/purfling schemes than that, at times, with fish glue, and it works fine, doing it all at once. Things to note:

- Keep a bowl of warm water and a towel nearby, to rinse the glue off your fingers as you progress; the stuff is sticky!
- Allow .010" for swelling
Use the absolute minimum amount of glue that you can get away with. That means applying the glue to the purflings, and "squeegeeing" most of the glue off with your fingers. This will leave only what is necessary for a good solid bond. Excess glue will only lead to a lot of squeeze-out and ill-fitted purflings(and gaps...!)
- Have a second bowl of warm water nearby. And a second towel. The towels can go into the wash with your regular work clothes.
- leave it taped/roped/clamped at least 24 hours. Longer if you can.

That's about it. Great stuff, and the above only makes it appear tough to use. It's really forgiving, and the forever open time allows you to keep working any problem sections as long as necessary. Put some good music on, relax, and forget about time. And if you have the room for it, get a third bowl of warm water and keep it nearby...

[Kary Karahadian]

Mario,
do you glue and tape purflings seperate from the bindings or at the same time?

[Mario Proulx]

Everything at once...

[Kary Karahadian]

Thanks for the tips Mario. (many bowls of warm water).

kary

[Jeff Chumley]

Mario has definitely used fish glue before but I think he left out one bowl of warm water. Maybe two.