I'm working on two ebony fingerboards for mandolins 6 & 7. I first installed the binding using thin Duro CA glue wicking into the gap between the FB and the celluloid ivoroid. Prior to installing, I also wiped all gluing surfaces, binding and board with denatured alcohol. Also used a slight touch of baking soda/water. Everything went on well and I set them aside to dry for around 24 hours. I then began cleaning them up starting with sanding the bottom flat. Then I moved to the fret side to radius to 12" and noticed that the binding on the nut end of one FB was loose. I spot glued it back down. I then noticed another was loose in the same area. This time, I slightly tugged on the binding to see if the glue job was acceptable. It came off with slight resistance.
I pulled all the binding off, cleaned everything up and reapplied with Gorilla brand CA. I also cleaned all surfaces with alcohol. No baking soda this time. Again all looked well, but I decided to test by pulling a bit. Again the binding came off with only slight resistance.
This led to an experiment. On scrap pieces of ebony fingerboard, I tried Duco, Duco with a touch of acetone, epoxy, gorilla brand CA-gel & thin, Duro CA, Kwik-Fix CA, Loctite Professional CA, epoxy, Titebond PVA, and melted acetone ivoroid glop. I also varied the test with a bit of moisture, some baking soda, acetone, alcohol on some CA samples along with straight use. There was no real winner. I would call the grip "mediocre" or "bad" for all of them. The glop may have offered the slightest bit of more resistance. I also tried the Loctite CA on a piece of pine with the same results. I would have used some Satellite City Super T, but it was dried up and not locally available. I also considered HHG, but did not try.
Maybe I'm just expecting too much of a bond between ivoroid and ebony using CA and other glues? Has anyone else tugged on some fingerboard binding? I'm about to order some more Special T as I've had success in the past. Maybe it will prove to be better than all the other clues in my experiment? Any thoughts?
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