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Thread: Binding question

  1. #1

    Default Binding question

    Can someone describe the process of melting some binding material in, is it acetone, to make a goo to use as filler?

    I have a dry run on my first scroll binding taped and wedged in. I've got the black pin line meeting at the miter, but need to fill the tip with ivoroid a bit. Do you just use it like you would use wood filler?
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  2. #2
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Binding question

    Get a mall bottle (I like airbrush bottles) cut some lengths of plastic binding so that they will easily fit in the bottle, put them in the bottle and pour in some acetone. Wait for the plastic to dissolve and there you have it. You can thin it by adding acetone, thicken it by letting it dry some.
    If your binding does not dissolve, it is not a plastic that dissolves in acetone.

    Important!:
    Keep the binding clean by working in a clean area and using clean tools and clean binding. Bits of dirt and other contaminates are not desirable in binding mud.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Binding question

    My binding is W/B/W. Do I just cut off the ivory bits? Don't want grey for sure.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  4. #4
    Teacher, repair person
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    Default Re: Binding question

    John Hamlett's method will work. So will this:

    I make a tapered "spear" of the desired material, make sure that the point will fit in the gap, put a drop of Duco cement on it, wait a minute or two, push it in firmly, let it cure, and cut off the excess and scrape level.

  5. #5
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Binding question

    Quote Originally Posted by Br1ck View Post
    My binding is W/B/W. Do I just cut off the ivory bits? Don't want grey for sure.
    I have so many scraps of so many different bindings that I just use those. If all you have are your supplied lengths of W/B/W, you'll have to sacrifice some of that, and you'll be hard pressed to separate the colors to dissolve separately, but that is what you will need to do. Some people scrape shavings off of bindings and dissolve the shavings. That would work, and shavings dissolve faster than pieces of binding anyway. The problem is keeping everything clean in the process of shaving the bindings, collecting and dissolving the shavings.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Binding question

    Well, I just finished binding the front of my mandolin. It was an adventure for sure. I'm pretty pleased, and I used scrapings from leveling the binding in places on the side to make the goo. I only used the goo for the tip point in the scroll, and a tiny bit where the binding meets the neck joint. Really used minimal wood filler too.

    The black lines in the binding needed just the smallest dot from a sharpie to connect. I'm feeling better about doing the back and the headstock now.

    One thing for sure, I will never again question the upcharge builders have for a fully bound mandolin. It is a lot of work, and the skill to do it right is, I'm sure, a long time coming.

    I let this project sit for months before routing the channel, finally embracing what will be will be, coming to terms with living with the best I could do. Well the best I can do is, if not perfect, very presentable. Enjoyable in a sort of masochistic way. Can't wait for the angst of finish work.

    I'm sure there will be more questions as I move along.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  7. #7
    Registered User Frank Ford's Avatar
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    Default Re: Binding question

    I dunk a short section of binding in acetone, and using my #11 X-Acto blade, scoop off a tiny bit of the color I want.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Binding question

    I'll try your method tomorrow Frank. Thanks. Two guitars live today due to frets.com, an Epiphone Caballero you put a wood bridge on years ago had a nasty top crack from the neck block to the sound hole which I fixed with your epoxy method. I believe that was a Takamine in your tutorial, and a no name birch archtop, early fifties ( stella factory?) too many issues to note. Invaluable resource.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  9. #9

    Default Re: Binding question

    Tried the Frank Ford method, and it shows a lot of promise. Kind of an art to get the timing just right, but you can get the amount you need when you need it. I'm sure by the time I'm just about finished, I'll get the hang of it.

    I put crown molding in the back bedroom of my daughter's house. It had a lot of corners, eight if I remember. By the time I was done, I sort of knew what I was doing, but the house is from 1925 and no angle is square. I was asked to do another bedroom, and that one went reasonably well. A lot of similarities with binding.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Binding question

    Yeah, but you don't have to cut the binding upside down like you do with crown molding. Problem with the crown is that any mistake can be very expensive.

  11. #11
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Binding question

    One of the things I learned back when I did a little bit of trim carpentry:
    1925-ish house + moldlings + no square corners = coping saw.

  12. #12
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    Default Re: Binding question

    John, boy are you right. I think that's how the name of that saw was invented. You were "coping" with a bad situation.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Binding question

    Quote Originally Posted by sunburst View Post
    One of the things I learned back when I did a little bit of trim carpentry:
    1925-ish house + moldlings + no square corners = coping saw.
    How about being a master with a caulk gun. When your ceiling drops 1/4 to 1/2 inch, you can have a bend or caulk. Caulk looks better. Do you have any idea how many times I triple checked and still cut wrong?

    Back to binding. I set out to equal the binding on my Michael Kelly. Nothing like setting the bar low. A few connect the dots with a sharpie and I can say with certainty I have exceeded my goal.

    Do you clear coat over binding? Can't recall a thread on that. Maybe it's too stupid a question LOL.
    Silverangel A
    Arches F style kit
    1913 Gibson A-1

  14. #14
    Registered User sunburst's Avatar
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    Default Re: Binding question

    Two of the "sayings" that went around when I was working in the cabinet business were:
    "Can't see it from my house" and "Get out the 1 inch caulk!"
    Neither is a very good binding strategy.

    Standard practice now days is to apply color, clean the bindings (either by scraping or by having masked them (and still have to do some scraping)), then apply finish over everything including bindings.
    In the old days at Gibson (teens, maybe into '20s), it seems that they applied the color, the thin varnish finish, then scraped the plastic bindings and left the bare.

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