Glue to Affix Ivory to Rosewood bridge?

[mandough]

I've seen bridges with an ivory top connected to rosewood or ebony. How do they affix the ivory to the wood? Would Superglue work? I got my hands on a couple of old ivory chopsticks than are big enough to make bridgetops. I want to affix them onto maple and rosewood. Does anyone have any experience with this? Your suggestions would be most helpful.

[sunburst]

My only experience with gluing ivory to anything has been regluinging piano key tops. There is a special cement for that that is white so that the ivories look good. I don't know how well it would work for your job.
I once saw a guitar that T.J. Thompson had built with an ivory bridge. I asked him what he used to glue it on and he said he had done some experiments and Titebond worked the best. That's glued to spruce, so, who knows if it would work for rosewood?

[jim simpson]

I have used superglue to glue bone to various woods. It seemed to hold fine. The only problem I have had came from shaping it too soon after glueing. This caused the material to heat up and come unglued.

[whistler]

The logical choice would seem to be some kind of animal glue - after all, it's designed for holding animals together (although rosewood isn't an animal). I have used rabbit hide glue for this purpose, and it works fine. No doubt, superglue works just as well - but if it goes wrong (not that this is a particularly tricky operation), it's a damn sight harder to sort out.

[Luthier]

Super glue will be just fine. #Ivory has a grain to it and is also porous so you may find another glue may be aplicable as well. #I just have one concern. #The Ivory chopsticks may be worth some money and you may want to check on their value before you decide to use them for your bridge saddle. #

Don

[mandough]

I decided on using Titebond glue and it has worked out just fine. Sanded really well and looks great. I was going to use Superglue but wasn't sure how it would sand.
As for the value of the chopsticks, one was broken and the other was bent. Unsellable as a collector's item, so they were given to me. Hard to get a hold of vintage ivory, especially for such whimsical purposes, so I'm very lucky.
As for the sound, I'll have to wait and see.
Right now, I'm making a bridge top out of one ivory section, with a typical Rosewood Gibson-style bottom. I've decided to replace the metal thumbwheels with wood or ivory shims. I've noticed that by just replacing the thumbwheels with wood...loudness, clarity, and bass response are noticeably increased. I seriously don't know why anyone would keep those thumbwheels on there.
My second one will be a hybrid maple/ivory one piece bridge.
My third will be a Gibson style adjustable bridge made from maple with ivory top.
thinking about making some kind of graphite dowel to hold wood shims instead of using the metal threaded screw in there. I just think that those metal bits are horrible transferers of energy. Thanks for all of your help.
I'll try to post pics of my "Frankenbridges" as they come along.

[thunderplucker]

mandough,

I have found, in my tests, that hide glue is the best glue to attach ivory to wood. #It is a strong enough hold under very cold as well as hot temps and is the best for tone and vibration transfer. #That is just my $.02. #

Kurt
www.huskyacoustics.com

[HoGo]

I've always used superglue to attach deer antler or bone to ebony saddles. When I made a new saddle with an antler/ebony saddle for a "muddy" sounding Flatiron A (X braced, Weber signed) it added a bit of clarity to the sound. I use only about 1/16" thick layer. The best thing is its looks...
http://www.fpv.umb.sk/~minarov/06.jpg
Other pics are here: http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin....t=14046 (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=14046)