Air Bubbles When Using Goop?

[warrenwolf]

I keep getting air bubbles between the glass playing surface and the ledge that it sits on. I am using a syringe to put the bead down with. Do you guys push your glass all the way down until it touches the ledge or just enough to complete the seal all the way around the glass? Do you try to give the glass a little twist when installing it? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Warren

[TRKYHTR]

I lay my bead down, then put the surface in and twist it a little. Then I call on it to see if it sounds right. You can surely tell if it's not right and I just push it in a little more and try again. This will save alot of pots that will normally be thrown away. I use this technique after Wendell Rye of Lights Out suggested it and it works great.

Joe

[stone road turkey calls]

Warren, Looks like you are not using a weight or a light pressure clamp when you glue your surface on, try that and see if that helps, ( a full soup can works good ) also not all these surfaces are true and flat even the glass. if the surface does not have a pre finished side try each side and see which sets the best then glue it. also a wood pot sold as a kit may be warped from to long a shelf life in a uncontrolled climate and cause your surface to lift up in a certain area. except for looking bad with the glass looks like you have a pretty good glue job.

Gary

[TarheelTurk]

I lay my bead down, then put the surface in and twist it a little. Then I call on it to see if it sounds right. You can surely tell if it's not right and I just push it in a little more and try again. This will save alot of pots that will normally be thrown away. I use this technique after Wendell Rye of Lights Out suggested it and it works great.

Joe

X2 do the same under the same advice


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[pappy]

Always twist the surface into the glue, this will fill any voids. As far as testing the pot before the glue sets, this is ok, but it will definitely sound different after it dries. What I do is the echo test, I tap the striking surface with a striker if it echoes wet, it will definitely sound good after it dries. I also lay the bead down with fresh glue, as goop has a tendency to get some hard spots in it after sitting up awhile, this will help prevent air bubbles as well as clamping the two together after the twist.

[warrenwolf]

Thanks for all the replies. I will definitely give these ideas a try. Thanks again, Warren

[| Justin |]

Hello all,

I'm hoping to revive this thread, as I've been encountering this issue intermittently as well on some of my calls.  I've talked to a few of you via PM, and it sounds like I'm following the same procedure that is commonly used by other call makers, but it seems on some of my calls the bubbles are just unavoidable.  I'm hoping there may be a few suggestions that I'm not already doing to help me eliminate or at least reduce these bubbles.  I don't believe the bubbles that I'm getting are affecting the sound quality of the calls, but on some of the darker woods they stand out a bit, and I would really like to reduce them for aesthetics.

My surface mounting procedure:
-I clean the surface with window cleaner to remove any fingerprints, etc from the underside of the surface.
-I place only the amount of Plumbers Goop that I intend to use in my disposable syringe.
-I lay a small bead on the center of the shelf where the surface will sit (the bead's width being approximately 1/4 to 1/3 the width of the shelf or so).
-I place the surface on the bead, twisting slowly with light downward pressure in either direction to fill any voids in the bond.
-I place a weight (full soup can) on the surface and allow it to cure overnight before removing.
-I then discard any unused goop from my syringe, and start with a fresh batch on the next calls.

After the surface has been placed, it will look flawless... about 1-2 hours later, I'll see a couple pinhead sized bubbles here and there.  The next morning, bubbles everywhere... I almost want to shoot a time lapse of the curing process to show you guys.

Other Notes:
-I am always very careful to make sure the shelf is cut as flat and true as possible.
-I have considered that the surface its self may not be flat as suggested above, but I don't think that's causing the problem in my case.
-I am very careful to make sure that no finish is ever applied to the shelf where the surface is mounted... sometimes I'll even mask this area to be extra cautious of this.
-I recently replaced my tube of goop, and my next few calls didn't have any bubbles show up during the curing process.  I was sure that the reason was that my tube must have surpassed its shelf life, but my last couple calls have disproved that theory.

I mentioned that in my case this happens intermittently on my calls...  I think this may be related to the species of wood used.  For instance, I have yet to lay a surface on wenge without having bubble issues.  So my best guess at this point is just that some woods are more likely to be prone to this issue than others.

[pappy]

I mentioned that in my case this happens intermittently on my calls...  I think this may be related to the species of wood used.  For instance, I have yet to lay a surface on wenge without having bubble issues.  So my best guess at this point is just that some woods are more likely to be prone to this issue than others.
Most likely you are hitting on something. As some woods have different make up the fibrous structural tissue in the wood traps moisture and air alike. The wood with the more open structural makeup will indeed allow more to escape through over time. Even when you cover it with glue, in this case epoxy or goop, over the drying period air will escape through the pores, and create pockets under the glues footing.
Does it effect the sound? Sometimes it will, if there are too many break through or if the air actually penetrates the glue and a pocket is created. But most of the time it will not. Aesthetically speaking, not much you can really do about it with one exception. You could paint the outer ring area of the glass or crystal covering just enough to hide the ledge and glue black. I have seen some manufactured pots with this done.

[| Justin |]

Most likely you are hitting on something. As some woods have different make up the fibrous structural tissue in the wood traps moisture and air alike. The wood with the more open structural makeup will indeed allow more to escape through over time. Even when you cover it with glue, in this case epoxy or goop, over the drying period air will escape through the pores, and create pockets under the glues footing.
Does it effect the sound? Sometimes it will, if there are too many break through or if the air actually penetrates the glue and a pocket is created. But most of the time it will not. Aesthetically speaking, not much you can really do about it with one exception. You could paint the outer ring area of the glass or crystal covering just enough to hide the ledge and glue black. I have seen some manufactured pots with this done.

Thank you for the response.

No, I haven't had a call where the sound has been affected by the bubbles... the main reason I want to correct this is for aesthetics (the other being that I don't like feeling so defeated ). 

Assuming there's no other tricks that can be done (maybe sealing the pores?) to eliminate the ability for air to escape through them, I think the idea of hiding them with a paint ring may be a good solution that I might try.