Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

MARK:
I finally finished my 4001S refinishing job (has the Chris Squire colors, with the exception of rosewood fretboard and headstock wings), and I am now going to glue a new nut onto the fretboard. It's one of the white RIC nuts (forgot the composition..some kind of plastic, I'm sure. What glue should I use for this?

It is most likely a Delrin nut .

I use 5 minute or 10 minute epoxy.

The reason? ..........It releases and cleans up extremely well .It does not remove pieces of wood as does any CA /cyanoacrylate glue .It works quickly and can be 'goosed' to harden quicker if need be .

The old glue can be removed from a nut cavity with a semi sharp chisel and comes out like a gasket.

CA glue removes threads of wood on almost all types of wood .I used it for a time ,but have reverted back .I also use Aliphatic resin/yellow woodworkers glue .That has been the standard in the industry for 50 years.

Contact cement does not work ,don't use 24 hour epoxy ,resorcinal is aweful for this job and silicone chaulk is stupid ...it's silicone!

I'd really like to see an epoxy that would bond to Delrin for any period of time. Stick to the aliphatic resin glue. It won't really bond completely either but seems to hold on enough for the job, without plasticizing the finish as the wrong choice of epoxy surely will.

Actually, there's a new product making the rounds in the model railroading community, where Delrin and other engineering plastics have been causing us fits for years. I believe it's called "CyanoPoxy" or something similar, and (as I recall) it's a bridge product between CA and traditional epoxies. I can get more info and report back if anyone really cares.

I have been using 'Devcon' 5 minute epoxy for 20 years .It seems to hold Rick nuts on just fine .

It also works on Bone ,Corian,Phenolics ,Brass,Graphite,Micarta,
Tusq and just about any kind of plastic that Fender,Gibson ,G&L and most of the manufactures use.

I have yet to see any of my gluing on of nuts ruin the finish on ANYONES guitar.

I do use aliphatic for lots of repair work and if the nut can sit for 3 hours .....BUT if the player needs 'NOW' I go with a tried and true method .

I have 'tested' these glues for years ...all of my guitars are glued this way .

I checked three guitars this am to see of any finish damage .................NONE

I just checked a Rick 12 string that I had to replace the nut on as the string spacing was ridiculously narrow Mapleglo #01-13638.
I glued the blank of black linen phenolic on last night .It looks fine.

Maybe Michael Brannan the owner of this 12 string will comment in a months time on any kind of damage to his instrument.

Acetal plastics like Delrin are generally used for their self-lubricating properties, which is great to allow the strings to easily slide through the nut on a guitar. But that same property makes it difficult to bond to. No matter what adhesive is used, roughing it up where the bond is to be made helps give it some "tooth" to grab into.

There's a zillion types of epoxy, but all are mostly inert, 60-70% filler of various types, depending on the intended use. It's the bisphenol which is in all epoxies that be a problem with the conversion varnish finish (which is mostly formaldehyde, ethanol, and isocyanate for those who care). I don't imagine that a small dot or two of epoxy, just enough to stabilize the nut position would be a problem as the bisphenol doesn't migrate like chlorine does. But personally I wouldn't use it on any of my guitars.

However, for aesthetic purposes, most people would prefer an adhesive that can be slathered on and wiped clean so as to fill the perimeter cracks; for this you want to use aliphatic resin. It will also remove cleanly later if it is necessary to replace the nut at a later date.

So I guess the bottom line is this- you can get away with small amounts of epoxy for a quick and dirty job, but use aliphatic resin (yellow woodworkers) glue for professional results. The difference is about 45 minutes of drying time.

This is a nut we're talking about, isn't it?

A little tiny bit of superglue to stop it sliding back and forth.
Then it's very easy to break the bond without having to rip up half an acre of wood.....