Best glue to repair peg head

[lloving]

Ok, I've done it, broken the scroll off the peg head on my Weber Yellowstone. Nice clean break that when held together almost disappears. Binding intact so the repair should be simple. The question is what glue to use.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

LL

[Folkmusician.com]

I use hot hide glue for most repairs, but the ear on a peg head is one where a good CA glue is my go to choice. This is one of the more common things to happen during shipping, so I have had the unfortunate blessing of fixing quite a few of these.

You only get one shot at this and there are no do overs if you use CA glue. The good news is that it should hold quite well and you do not have to devise some elaborate setup for clamping. For this to work out, you need to do a few test fittings and get the correct amount of glue on it to coat the surface but limit the squeeze out. A good job with CA glue will be practically invisible once sanded and polished.

[sunburst]

You only get one shot at this and there are no do overs if you use CA glue...

... which is one of the reasons I use hot hide glue for the repair. There is one mandolin that I've glued the scroll back on three times, and if it has another on-stage collision with another guitar peghead I'll probably have to glue it back on again.
However.
You have to devise some kind of tricky clamping mechanism to glue a scroll with slippery hide glue. It would seem that, when something fits back together so well and is so easy to hold in place exactly, it would be easy to clamp. It's times like this when I really have respect for the human hand! Nothing else can hold a broken-off scroll in place like a human hand can. To me, that is the big advantage or superglue for this repair, you can "clamp" it with your hand.

Here's one of the ways I've devised for clamping a glued scroll. Some scraps of very soft wood, bolted together with pieces front and back (you can't see the ones at the back of the peghead but they're there) and the angles adjusted so that the clamping force is directed in the right direction to close the joint securely. Only light clamping pressure is required if the fit is good.

[lloving]

All

Thanks for the advice. Seems like CA is the way to go. I understand there are different viscosities of CA. Is there a preference?

LL

[lloving]

All

Thanks for the advice. Seems like CA is the way to go. I understand there are different viscosities of CA. Is there a preference for this type of repair?

LL

[Folkmusician.com]

You would want a quality thin CA glue. I like Loctite and Jet.

Disclaimer: I have never had an issue doing this, but I have seen a few attempts by others that didn't go well. I have had plenty of practice on our own instruments. I wouldn't have tried this for the first time on a customer's high-end mandolin.

[pfox14]

Since it's a wood on wood joint (break) I would opt for Titebond.

[lloving]

Thanks all for the advice.

The repair is now essentially done. Ill post a pic of the results later. I used Loctite CA. I just couldn't get comfortable enough with the required clamping on the od shaped peg head to go Titebond. Hide was out of the question for my small skill set.

Thanks all

Tad