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Ahh, That Old Chestnut... bending wood binding!

Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 8:57 pm
by Super72bb
Hi all,

I am trying to bend some ebony binding. I don’t have a bending machine nor a hot iron. I am prepared to make jigs if needed of the body contour but was hoping for a bit of advice on how to approach this. I have read everything from using ammonia to using my wife’s curling iron. Has anyone had a tried and tested method (if there is such a thing) for getting consistent results with limited destruction?

I can appreciate this has been discussed before so if anyone could even direct me to a thread on the topic that would be great.

Cheers

Re: Ahh, That Old Chestnut... bending wood binding!

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 5:57 am
by MaineGeezer
You've picked a wood that is difficult to bend.

Re: Ahh, That Old Chestnut... bending wood binding!

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 10:43 am
by Danl8
I did a lot of bending with a 3 inch copper pipe and a torch. Maine geezer is right ebony is a challenge if not done right. Get the heat up to 325-350, spritz the ebony and support the ebony with a flexible steel backing. And more importantly practice with some scrap such as maple, before doing ebony. I now use John Hall’s bender system and with proper setup, ebony bends easily. For one of my current parlor sized guitars I used ebony bent freehand on an electric pipe that properly heated bent easily without fractures.

Re: Ahh, That Old Chestnut... bending wood binding!

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 10:51 am
by MaineGeezer
Something I did when bending binding that helped. I cut a channel in a piece of particle board that was the curve I wanted and wide and deep enough to hold the binding. That gave me a pattern to follow and something to hold the binding in the proper shapewhile it cooled off.

Re: Ahh, That Old Chestnut... bending wood binding!

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:32 pm
by glasalle1
My only advice is buy extra binding just in case. Ebony has been the only binding material I have broken. I think I tried to bend too thick.

Glenn.

Re: Ahh, That Old Chestnut... bending wood binding!

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 9:36 pm
by Super72bb
Thanks for the help, i’ll Give it a good go and see how it turns out. Thanks again.

Re: Ahh, That Old Chestnut... bending wood binding!

Posted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 11:55 pm
by Kevin Sjostrand
Too thick can cause you grief. I had issues bending Bloodwood bindings breaking a few until I thinned them down from .080" to .065", this was on a pipe, then they bent without issue. You may consider this.