Official Luthiers Forum!

Though we are having a very humid summer in Ottawa, On.
I would like to bind, my, all otherwise completed box. What are the consideratons?
MM

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Mike McNerney

wood or plastic binding?

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Old growth, shmold growth!

snake wood, on 3 ply laminated sides & back, spruce top

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Mike McNerney

I wouldn't worry overmuch about rh and binding, unless its excessively humid. All my binding goes down in the non rh controlled area....

After you bend your snakewood, lightly sand the gluing surface with 220 and then clean it with acetone.

Temperature and RH shouldn't be a problem.

SNakewood seems to be really stiff and unflexible after bending, so you want your bends to be as accurate as possible to the actual rabbet.

I just did this guitar in fact:

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Old growth, shmold growth!

You just want your body and bindings to be in the same environment for a week or so before you bind. The idea is they will both be expand together from humidity changes

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

thanks folks. I will proceed. I am considering fish glue or or the titebond extend.

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Mike McNerney

Titebond Extend will give you a longer open time and the high strength necessary to hold the Snakewood binding if you have to force it to conform slightly, it's very stiff and brittle. Plus it will be impossible to squeeze it out and starve the joint.

Fish glue will give you a long open time but it's hygroscopic. More than once there have been stories of well prepared joints failing in high humidity conditions. Also, with the organic glues, it's possible o adequately glue the joint and then squeeze almost all the glue out, starving the joint. With Snakewood, this is a possibility due to the possible high roping/taping pressure needed to close the joint in spots.

I'm trying to give you feedback relevant to Snakewood, since that's what you are using. It's not as elastic and flexible as some woods are.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Man, Florida sure FEELS like a sauna, especially lately.

I never hear anecdotal stories about Titebond glue joints just falling apart spontaneously the way I seem to hear with the fish glue stories, unless somebody deliberately "tests" the joint and it snaps.

I surmise that either the hygroscopic aspect of fish glue is coming into play, or the more likely scenario, the joint was clamped too hard and the joint was starved.

If the bindings require excess clamping pressure in some spots the glue may be squeezed out in others, since he's using snakewood.

I love Snakewood and herringbone. Here's another picture:

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Old growth, shmold growth!