Laminating Binding Material

[knighty76]

Hi!

I'm trying to laminate two strips of binding material that I bought from Stew Mac, but it's not really happening for me. I bought the laminating jig too, and it's great.. just the ticket. But my problem is the two strips aren't properly bonding.. they came apart fairly easily when I checked back after a couple of hours.

I followed the instructions fairly closely.. but I have two theories and wonder if anyone has had any experience or similar problems.

Theory 1) Pure acetone is not stocked in hardware shops anywhere in the North of England, so far as I can tell. To that end, and I think having read somewhere that it should work, I bought nail varnish remover... acetone in the guise of lady products! I made sure that it was an acetone-based product. Now I'm wondering if because it's not pure acetone.. there are a few extra ingredients in there, for example I reckon they colour it to make it look pretty. I'm wondering if after applying it when the solvent evapourates is it possible that it's leaving behind some kind of residue, preventing the surfaces from forming a proper bond?

Theory 2) Wondering if I was pulling the strips through the jig quickly enough.. the instructions on Stew Mac said to brush on the acetone in 6" mating strips and immediately pull them through. Now, my interpretation of "immediately" may have been wonky.. just how quickly does the solvent evapourate?.. are we talking about pulling the strips through within half a second? Because with putting the brush down, and pulling through the jig quite slowly I may have scuppered the process.

Any help would be smashing. Hopefully I can try again without having to buy new binding product (I'm in the UK and international shipping from Stew Mac is a pain).

Cheers lads and lasses,

Rich.

[thedoctor]

I told some folk in a post about 4 months ago that the stuff they sell as nail polish remover is a WAY lame version of acetone. Got to be the problem, and, yes, you have to work fast. Look in your local phone directory for INDUSTRIAL GASES, MANUFACTURER. Call them (BOC maybe?) and find out if there is an acetylene filling plant near you. If so, get a GLASS jar, with lid, and a half-herd of Guiness and stop by. One of the filling team will be delighted to fill the jar with some 100% chem grade acetone in exchange for the libations. They have the best acetone going.

[knighty76]

Thanks doc! Appreciate the reply. I will continue my search for proper stockists/thirsty plantworkers!

Cheers again,

Rich.

[johnsilver]

Sounds like the doc has you covered on the acetone.

A couple of other tips. Speed is important when laminating but there isn'a need to rush when laminating short sections. You have several seconds after you apply the acetone to then pull the binding through. That gives you time to ensure you are keeping the binding pieces aligned well which minimizes later scraping. Also, I lightly scrape the face of the binding to be laminated to take some of the sheen off. It helps adherance.

I don't know if this will work or not, but if I couldn't find any acetone, I would try using some of the binding cement that Stewmac sells. It is intended to adhere the binding to the guitar but may be worth a try if you are desperate. If it doesn't work, you are no worse off. It will be messy so I'd suggest using a small amount and spread it thinly with a brush. It takes longer to dry so you may have to work the binding differently, that is, do a short section at a time and let it dry completely before proceeding.

Good luck.

[Setch]

Your local dispensing Chemist has acteone, but they probably keep it behind the couter. Ask the guy at the prescriptions counter. I get it from my local Chemist, a little bottle costs 65p.

As you suspected, nail varnish remover is full of extraneous crap which you don't need for your application, and which makes it less chemically aggresive. In a pinch, lacquer thinners will work too.