Pangkor Ukulele Bridge Reglue | Part 2

◀ Part 1

In the previous post, we saw just how much dried glue there was sticking to the cedar top of this L. Luthier Pangkor Tenor Ukulele and underside of the bridge. There was also substantial tear-out due to the bridge popping off after an earlier reglue attempt. All things considered, the main objective would be to establish a strong glue bond between the bridge and top.

The first thing I did was use a blade to scrape off glue residue from the bottom of the bridge. This was followed by sanding to ensure a level surface. Having done that, I determined the correct location for the bridge and clamped it down. This was to ensure it did not move during the next step, which was marking the perimeter with a scalpel.

Now came the toughest part of the job, removing dried glue and wood with chisels. The shallow scalpel cuts made earlier served as a reliable guide and minimized the chance of accidentally chiseling outside the perimeter. Once all the glue and wood shards had been removed, I proceeded to level-sand the newly-exposed surface.

The final step was regluing and clamping the bridge in place. Yes, I did use Titebond Original Wood Glue for this task. We'll let the glue cure for at least four days, remove the clamps, and call the job done. Remember, my instructions were to just reglue the bridge, no more and no less. It's always best to do exactly as you're told.

Bottom of bridge scraped and sanded flat

Bridge clamped before marking the perimeter

Removing dried glue and wood shards

Much cleaner now

Level-sanding in progress

Bridge reglued and clamped