How long to wait to scrap/sand after glue....

[Michael Donahue]

Hey guys. I'm working on an electric guitar that's made out of mahogany with a flamed walnut top. I glued the top (~1/8" thick) together and then dropped it on the mahogany. There is a ridge along the glue line running length-wise between the 2 pieces of walnut (the glue joint along of edges where the mahogany and walnut come together are fine). I assume this ridge is from all the moisture added to the wood when glued together. My question is how long should I wait to scrape/sand this level? I've heard that if you do this too soon it can shrink back some leaving a valley along the glue line.

Thanks for the help!

[Michael Schwartz]

If in doubt you should be fine if you let it set and cure overnight as long as you didn't expose the wood to excesive moisture in the process of cleaning up squeeze out.

You should be fine to go ahead and do any initial sanding/scraping as soon as you remove the clamps.

The only instance of this situation you describe I have heard of involves biscuits used to reinforce/align panel glue ups swelling from glue, and then shrinking back, creating a divot after the panel was surfaced.