DIY binding

[Crusher]

I bought a project Jackson as seen here:

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55889

Half of the headstock binding is missing. Anyone ever add binding? Is it fairly easy to do? What kind of glue did you use? Which tools to trim the binding?

Thanks!

[RobRR]

Its not too bad. First youll need the binding obviously, StewMac is probably your best bet. For glue, I used Elmers wood glue, but titebond and others will work just as well. To hold the binding on, I used 1" x .5" masking tape, ever half inch. To get the binding around the headstock point and curves, youll need a heat gun as well.

[jackson1]

A new sharp Stanley blade will make a good dressing tool for trimming the bindings. Used correctly of course - scraping - not cutting.

[mm2002]

Duco cement is the best for binding. Elmers is great for porous materials (like wood) but the binding may separate from it over time, because it is non-porous. (RobRR, I hope this doesn't happen to yours)

[mm2002]

Oh, and I forgot to mention super glue. It will work great unless you're doing a natural finish or stain. Any wood saturated with super glue will not take stain. If you're painting it, it'll work fine.

[Model1VH2]

Hope this helps ...

http://www.stewmac.com/freeinfo/A-BINDINGS.html

[Crusher]

Thanks for the link!

[sully]

dude, don't use elmer's glue on binding. you need CA or binding glue, which is a lot like duco cement. also, if you order binding from stewmac, get ivoroid, and not the "rippled ivoroid." you can also get the binding glue there, too.

+1 on the heat necessity for bending it around the corners. but use a hair dryer for it. celluloid binding is INCREDIBLY flammable, and you don't need to go gonzo with a heat gun.

you'll need to get creative with the headstock point; usually i've just bound a pointy with 2 pieces. i've got some pix i can post of how i've done it in the past if you think that will be of value to you.

oh, you'll want to get some razor blades too.

sully

[Postal]

Stu no longer carries ivoroid- They dropped all Nitrocellulose binding materials.

Grizzly has it cheap though, thats where I just got mine. It doesnt say on the site, but it is .060 thick just like jackson uses. (and 1/4" tall)

If you look closely at jackson binding, you see there is a seam at the tip of the headstock- it is not bent around the point, but joined.

You need to remove the rest of the headstock binding, and clean the binding channel before anything else. The channel must be *perfect*! If the channel isnt perfect, you have zero chance of your binding being perfect. a hairdryer or carefully with heat gun and careful tugging will work, but a razor blade may be necessary to cut finish or wood that wants to pull up with it. Go very slowly and carefully- Do it right. Clean excess glue or small bits of binding with a file/razorblade. Remember the binding channel must look perfect!

Yes you do need to prebend the binding *before* you glue it, with a hairdryer or heat gun on a low setting, but we'll get to that in a minute. I use a variable temp heat gun on a lower setting.

For nitro bindings, the best glue is acetone with small pieces of nitro binding melted in it until it thickens to a gel. If you order binding from grizzly, you'll have tons extra for this. Acetone melts the binding and it will disolve in acetone. However, small amounts of acetone like when using this mixture in a glue, melts the binding into the wood just a little to get a perfect fit to the wood with no glue line or gap. It wont melt the binding into nothingness though. Just take about 1 to 1 1/2 ounces acetone and clip small pieces of binding, keep adding the binding over a period of several hours until it becomes a gel.

Other than acetone/binding mixture, I dont know what the best glue is for nitro bindings- For ABS bindings (white or black) plastic cement such as duco or the stuff from stu is best.
Problem is excess glue that will get everywhere- were you planning on refinishing the entire guitar? If not, masking tape is your friend, but scraping the binding flush will be very difficult.... without scratching the finish.

First, you need to smooth the narrow edge that will be the bottom side of the binding for a tight fit. The easiest way to do that is to grab some scrap wood, and glue 3 short scrap blocks (shorter than 1/4") to a larger block in a triangle pattern that would give a "circle" about 6 inches with the triangle being points of the circle.... (A pic is worth a thousand words, but the cam isnt handy) - Not too hard to understand though- You want to coil the binding into a circle about 5-6 inches, and this contraption is to hold the binding in a circle, but leaving the bottom edge of the binding exposed-

coil the binding inside the blocks- so that the binding makes about a 5-6 inch circle... and sand it with 120 grit until smooth. Keep sanding until the entire binding is scratch free. This is an important step to get a seamless binding.

next, with a little tape handy, start at the fretboard, heat the binding and bend to fit. Tape it in place, and continue heat bending until you get to the pointy. Let cool, then remove that side, and do the same to the other side, then glue and tape one side in place leaving a small excess at the tip. Leave it to dry, then clean any excess glue at the tip and carefully trim the excess binding at the tip, then glue the other side and tape- dab a small amount of glue at the seam between the two bindings at the tip to melt them together, and let dry before scraping flush.

When you glue, you want to pull the tape as hard as you can without tearing the tape. Binding tape is great for this as it is stronger in tearstrength and adhesion than most other tapes... but anyway, tape it TIGHT! If you use masking tape, double it up before applying and pulling it tight.


After it's done, if there are any *small* flaws, slight gap, or dark glue line, is easy to fix by heating it with the haidryer, push it in place, tightly, dab a little thin superglue on it, and tape over it. This only fixes slight blems though.


Clear as mud, eh? LOL!@

Hope it helps some, (it is my 1st tutorial on JCF...)
Postal!