Official Luthiers Forum!

Well, you never know when u will come across a totally useful idea. Someone recently mentioned using a blow dryer to heat binding tape to "detack" it for easy, non-damage removal. Well, it works like a charm. No more fiber pulls on the top. Thank you!

Mike

Glad you found out about it, but... It's been standard OLF practice for some time now...

I just put a coat of shellac on the area and fugetaboutit.

I use shellac. Just that that stew Mac binding tape sticks quite well to it. If I recall, the purpose of the shellac is to make it harder for wood fibers to separate. Not reduce the ability of the tape to stick (which would be counter productive). Anyways, I get the tape off in way less time with no tears to clean up.

I have known about it for awhile, but still from time to time I forget and just the pull the tape at a low angle. Oh, the pleasures of getting old.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I had read about this, but never needed it till the last guitar I did where fibers would fall out if you shook the top upside down (not really, but you get the idea). It was fine where you could use shellac but you can't use shellac everywhere (i.e. masking top to glue fretboard and bridge on). Tried the blowdryer trick (on recommendation of this forum), and wow! It really works. I'll use it everywhere from now on just to be safe. Pulled out fibers are a pain in the last stages of a guitar,
Mike

I wipe on three coats of old shellac (mixed long ago but fine for non-critical finish work) on the top only, before I cut the binding channel. I make a little tab at the end of the binding tape (fold a small portion of the end of the tape) so I don't have to use a fingernail to dig up the tape off the top. I use a hair dryer as I pull off the tape slowly, at a 45 degree angle.

As a side note, I also shellac the top before cutting rosette channels because it seems to help keep glue squeeze out from embedding into the top when I pass it through the thickness sander.

Shellac is magic juice for so many apps. But even with shellac, I've had pulled fibers. Heating up the tape is one of those things that just makes sense once u think about it.

Now, I just wish the stew Mac tape had a little fiber in it. Only because it would make it even stronger in some challenging situations. Of course, the downside would be tearing off pieces...

I wish I'd known that ages ago, I've always found it really hard to avoid tear out. Just happened to have a bound body ready to remove the tape as I read it. Works a charm.

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"There is hope in honest error .... ". Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
http://www.ianchisholm.co.uk

I agree. According to Med Fool, SOP. It is now in my shop. Wife's hair dryer sits on bench right next to her clothes iron. Hope she doesn't go looking for them...

Used to use her hairdrier, but I caved in and bought a heat gun. (And my own kitchen foil, baking paper, clothes pegs, clingfilm, ......etc.)
But my made up HHG and Fish Glue lives in the freezer, you've got to draw the line somewhere.
If that's OK with her.
Please.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.