Carbon fiber rod glue question

[Ryan Foust —Gibson Repair & Restoration—]

I’ve always used epoxy. Tried some pretty quick & unscientific experiments with hide glue and it didn’t seem to bond to the carbon fiber very well.

I also inlay the rod beneath the surface of the neck face and cap it with wood, like you would a Les Paul truss rod, again with epoxy.

You can hide glue your fingerboard back on with hide glue and have full wood-on-wood contact that way.

[Paul M]

I used epoxy. I haven’t yet put a cap on it. Mostly for new builds and I usually put the board on with epoxy (g flex) also.

I did one restoration and I can’t remember what I did. Probably taped off the area around the rod and epoxied it then taped the rod and tightbonded the rest.

I do like the capping idea though. If you want the most from the rods, (I think) it makes sense to get them deeper in the neck where they will have increased (insert the engineering term here). Obviously as deep as you can go without routing out the back of your neck…..

[Paul M]

Capping in with epoxy would give you the opportunity to use whatever glue you wanted for the board.

[Brent Gable Gable Guitars]

Thanks for the input guys. I’m going to ask a question about epoxy. I just bought some JB Weld epoxy for a tool repair and it worked great. I’m sure there are better choices out there, but would that work?

[Ryan Foust —Gibson Repair & Restoration—]

I’ve never used the JB Weld, but for me any of the epoxies you get at the hardware store have been hit and miss. Likely user error.

We use RBC, don’t know the version off the top of my head. I think you have to order direct from the company.

I’ve also used West Systems 105. Easier to find and you can get it in single use packets – they call it the 101 handy repair kit.

[Paul M]

For me I just use the West system G Flex for everything in the shop, other than maybe 5 minute epoxy and epoxy putty. It’s easy to mix, close to as strong as you can get and also flexible.

JB Weld is more a specialty epoxy for metal stuff afaik. People seem to love it but for a guitar shop I don’t think it’s super useful.

[Brent Gable Gable Guitars]

Thanks again for the response guys. I have a West Marine store in my hometown so I’ll go there. Is G/flex 650-8 a good option? Looks like 45 minute work time and liquid consistency. They also have a thick version of that. Seems like the thinner one would work better. Thoughts?

[Paul M]

I use the thickened version in the toothpaste tubes. It is thickened enough to fill gaps and it stays where you want it.

The thin version is probably useful too but for me the thick version is perfect for everything I’ve used it for.

[Brent Gable Gable Guitars]

That’s what I ended up using and it worked great. Thanks for the advice!