Thread: Temporary Gluing Pieces Together

Hot melt is the strongest, but may be visible after you separate the pieces, when you apply a finish. DS tape is the easiest to separate & clean up, but not so strong. Pins will leave a mark.
Damn it, nothing's perfect. I'd try the DS tape first.

I've had success with both hot melt and DS and if your pieces are small enough a quick zap in the micro wave makes it easy to separate and clean up with HM and would probably also work with DS.

Hot melt best I've found. No prying apart as with DS, especially on soft wood which can deform at the separation.

Baking the pieces in regular oven at lowest setting (170F/77C for me) for a few minutes enables more working time for assembly (and thus thinner joint). Baking afterwards enables gentle separation. Bake again to assist removal if needed, followed by acetone cleanup.

Cheers,
Joe

Another possibility to investigate is (very old-fashioned) hide glue. I see lutheirs assemble fine stringed instruments, violins, ouds, etc., with hide glue. What's remarkable is that they can take things apart, do a little sanding, movement, etc and put the whole thing back together.
My chief example, and good friend finished, a 4-yr luthier's schooling in Britain. She's too busy to keep her shop open, working for many symphony orchestras across western Canada.