A Review Of Stewmac Wooden Laminated Binding

[thegarehanman]

It seems most people avoid using wooden binding. I don't know if that's because they're intimidated by it or if they simply don't like it. Regardless, I think it's beautiful and compliments a flamed maple top very nicely. This is the first time I've used it and it's going very well. I am using the b/w/b/w laminated wooden perfing from StewMac as well astheir 1/4" maple/b/w/b binding. I must say, this binding is glued together remarkably well and if you can bind a guitar with plastic binding, you can almost definitely use this stuff. You don't even need to use a bending Iron.

My first attempt at bending it didn't go so well. I dampened the binding and put it on a bending iron. It really did not respond to that as well as I had hoped. So then I decided to try something that most people would avoid. I submerged the binding. To my suprise, after 10 min. in the tub the binding didn't separate and it bent like a rubber band. It's 3/16" to boot, impressive to say the least.

So here's how you do it. And remember: I've only done this with StewMac's binding.

-Submerge the binding for approx. 10 minutes. I used steaming hot water, that makes it a bit more flexible. Try not to leave it in for too much longer as the binding WILL delaminate.

-Take the binding out of the tub and wipe off any residue so you don't get your guitar body wet.

-Get a roll of particularly stick masking tape and use the tape to tape the binding in the channel. Try to get the binding as snug as you can. Taping on the side of the body first and then pulling the tape inward, to pull the binding to the body, before affixing the tape to the top will help you get a closer fit.

-Use lots of tape, make sure you get your curves almost perfect.

-Allow the binding to dry out for about an hour. It may require more time depending on your temperature and humidity.

-Take the tape off. Be carefull not to damage your wood. Masking tape should be fairly gentle on the wood though.

-You can use wood glue to affix the binding, but I used the binding glue StewMac sells for gluing their plastic bindings. You may disagree with me on this one, but think of it this way: if it can glue plastic to wood, it can glue wood to wood.

-Use tape or big rubberbands or whatever you want to hold the binding against the body while the glue dries. I just used more masking tape.

This method worked perfectly for me. I hope this helps anyone who may have had problems with this. And remember, this has only been tested with StewMac's binding. I have heard horror stories of using this method for other companies' purfings.

**EDIT**After doing some testing on some scrap pieces, I have come to the conclusion that anything over 10 minutes is too much. At 15 minutes the binding begins to delaminate, but is still workable. Anything more than 20 minutes and the binding will definitely delaminate. Just soak it for 10 minutes and you're golden. **EDIT**

Edited July 8, 2005 by thegarehanman

[jmrentis]

It isn't a problem with the wet binding against the body wood, as in warping or anything? I wouldn't think so but anytime I hear water I worry. Thanks for the tips, I would like to bind my upcoming body, maybe a similar binding to what you are using, did you get the whole body done with one piece? Thanks! Jason

[thegarehanman]

Water on the body is no problem. It had to contact maple and mahogany and there was no water damage. Notice I wrote that you should wipe it off before applying. This get rid of most of the water. The strips StewMac sells are not long enough to wrap the whole body. So you have to use 2 pieces and join them at the base of the guitar.

[jmrentis]

Thanks for the info, I will probably try your technique on my upcoming project unless I go for the natural binding, my top wood is really nice and I don't know how much better it would be to rout out from it to put something very similar in. But who knows I might.

Do you have any contours like the arm cut out or gut cut that you had to bind through? I was just curious if you would be able to bend the binding through a gut cut or arm contour. Or if there is a better way to do this. Thanks again for the tips and if you can post some pics! Jason