glue for wooden binding

[WoodyMcKenzie]

I just cut the binding channel for my latest project, which I want to bind with sycamore. Last time I did this, I used titebond and it worked fine, but it sealed the wood so that the finish didn't uniformly penetrate the wood in some spots near the binding. I couldn't tell this was going to happen because I sanded carefully after doing the binding and did not see traces left of the glue. I am not using any stain and the finish will be clear. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know most folks don't approve of the liquid hide glue, but I wonder if it might work okay for this purpose. Titebond makes a liquid hide glue and even recommends it for musical instruments. Maybe the bad rep came from the Franklin brand?

Thanks!

Woody

[sunburst]

The bad rep came from the stuff that they use to keep it liquid, I think. It also keeps it from curing well, apparently. I suspect it would seal the wood much like titebond anyway.
I've always used Titebond for wooden bindings. I can usually scrape those white places and get past the glue so the wood will take stain, perhaps that would work for your finish.
While I'm speculating, I wonder if you could seal the wood first to keep the glue from penetrating next to your binding slots?

[boboshoes]

I use titebond. After glue is dry I'll wet the whole instrument with naptha and see where the glue is. Wetting with naptha or mineral spirits will show the leftover glue. Sand and scrape untill it's gone and your done. The glue doesn't penetrate the wood . If you find you missed some during staining, stop, scrape it off and start staining again.

[Bill Snyder]

Franklin makes Titebond. By the way they have a new glue Titebond III (http://www.titebond.com/IntroPageTB.ASP?UserType=1&ProdSel=WNTitebondIIITB.asp)

[crawdad]

Question: does it make any sense to put a light coat of shellac around the rim where the glue joint is? I would think this could be sanded off fairly easily and prevent the glue from penetrating the wood. Or does sanding the bare wood achieve the same ends?

[Luthier]

IMHO I would stick to just using the Titebond and sand and scrape as boboshoes has suggested. #I use wood binding and purfling I make myself for my instruments and have found sanding and scraping has always yielded great results.

Don

[WoodyMcKenzie]

Yes, I just went with Titebond. Sanded and scraped awhile this morning. This is my second try with wood binding (only my third instrument) and I am far from perfect. I had a hard time getting the binding bent just right to go around below the the heel of the neck. (I didn't have the neck join the back.) Actually, I had a harder time figuring out how to clamp and hold it during gluing. It's easy to see why celluloid binding is the norm-- it is so much easier to mold and form into place. # I think I still like the wood though. It's all a learning process for me.

Thanks again for all of your expert advice!

Woody

[Dru Lee Parsec]

Check out the next to latest issues of American Lutherie by the Guild of American Luthiers (http://www.luth.org) (Issue #76) there's a very good article about binding a guitar using CA glue (High quality super glue). They do shellac the wood in the channel, especially the end grain, to keep the glue from discoloring the wood. I bet if you used a super blond shellac then it would protect the wood and be nearly clear. The other interesting part of the article is that they bend their binding to fit exactly right, they even miter everything before it's glued in and tape it all up with clear packing tape so you can see that all the miter joints are where they should be. They then flow CA glue on using pipettes and the whole binding is glued and dried in minutes. Before you try it go get the back issue to read about all the gotcha's that could creep up.

You can get super blond shellac, (As well as other colors) from Shellac.net (http://www.shellac.net/)

[No affiliation, I just buy their stuff and I always get good quality and good service.)

[sunburst]

Drew, Thanks for that post!
I just ordered some blond shellac that I need for a restoration project that I have in progress.
Just yesterday I decided the orange I was using was getting too dark and I needed to get some blond. I should have it in 2 to 3 days.