A few questions

**Dan Voight** · Oct-22-2007, 10:18pm

First of all, I'd like to thank the ever so kind members of this board for the assistance over my past two years of membership. The guidence given here has contributed to my first mandolin sale this year. What a great experience...

I've got a few questions about some non related topics:

Anyone know where to get pre laminated iv/b/w binding (not iv/b/iv)?

Duco vs. #16 ips weld-on cement (stewmac sells it). Is Duco better?

Does anyone know where to get silicone heat blankets? I know that lmi sells kits but there expensive. I just want to buy some blankets to make my own side-bending jigs. I've read on line that a guy purchased them in the $20/blanket range but I cant seem to find them.

o yes, one more: Opinions on a perfectly round aperature for an F4 vs. the traditional elipse. I'm trying to see if I can fit a sound hole in between tone bar bracing (just a thought).

Sorry for the messy thread. I just didnt want to start 5 of them at once. Maybe I'm wrong.

Thanks.

**sunburst** · Oct-22-2007, 11:32pm

Originally Posted by (woodnbronze24 @ Oct. 22 2007, 23:18)

First of all, I'd like to thank the ever so kind members of this board for the assistance over my past two years of membership. The guidence given here has contributed to my first mandolin sale this year. What a great experience...

I've got a few questions about some non related topics:

Anyone know where to get pre laminated iv/b/w binding (not iv/b/iv)?

I'd ask Bill James. He might make that stuff. Or, you
can laminate it yourself if you can't find it.

Duco vs. #16 ips weld-on cement (stewmac sells it). Is Duco better?

Probably not. I use Duco, but I "water it down" with
acetone to get it to work the way it did "in the old
days" before they changed whatever it is they changed
about it. I believe the weld-on works better with some
non-celluloid plastics.

Does anyone know where to get silicone heat blankets? I know that lmi sells kits but there expensive. I just want to buy some blankets to make my own side-bending jigs. I've read on line that a guy purchased them in the $20/blanket range but I cant seem to find them.

Don't know.

o yes, one more: Opinions on a perfectly round aperature for an F4 vs. the traditional elipse. I'm trying to see if I can fit a sound hole in between tone bar bracing (just a thought).

It's a design decision. Any sound difference would be
negligible, and especially if you are changing other
things like bracing, you're not building an F4 per se
anyway. If you can get it to work visually with your
design, that's the consideration.

Sorry for the messy thread. I just didnt want to start 5 of them at once. Maybe I'm wrong.

Thanks.

...

**Stephanie Reiser** · Oct-23-2007, 4:28am

If you are putting tone bars in an F-4 you might not get that nice F-4 sound that the transverse bar under the sound hole contributes to. May as well build a 5.
I tried finding another source for heating blankets for you, but couldn't find any other than LMI. I guess you need to think of it as an investment. (What in the world do you want those for, anyway?)

**markishandsome** · Oct-23-2007, 8:33am

You could turn the ellipse sideways to cash in on Selmer mania.

**Dan Voight** · Oct-23-2007, 9:57am

Originally Posted by (Amanda Lyn @ Oct. 23 2007, 05:28)

I tried finding another source for heating blankets for you, but couldn't find any other than LMI. I guess you need to think of it as an investment. (What in the world do you want those for, anyway?)

Thanks for looking around. I'm not sure as to the direction of your question. I just wanted to make my own side bendinding jigs (one for each section of the sides) all with their own separate blankets to speed up my process a bit. If I found some blankets, I would do my own wiring for a heat controller etc.

**Jim Hilburn** · Oct-23-2007, 10:22am

One point about the binding.
I've tried to laminate my own binding and unlike the stuff you buy it didn't like to go around tight bends without the inside thin lines wrinkling like crazy. So when I need something other than the standard black line ivoroid I do the inner lines separate of the final outside piece. You can then do the outside with lap joints instead of miters. Also,I'm pretty sure this is how the Loars were done.

**billhay4** · Oct-23-2007, 10:22am

I get silicone heaters here: Hi Heat Industries at a very reasonable price.
Bill

**amowry** · Oct-23-2007, 10:28am

I get my heating blankets from Watlow, and they are around $20-$30 for the mandolin-sized ones. You can Google Watlow and then download their PDF catalog, which will list the distributor nearest you.