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Yes, I'm back. I've had a layoff due to some family fu and a few medical "adventures" but I've started to get back into the groove. My first job is to get some mandolins repaired, after which I'll build a guitar or two.

I've searched the forum and, except for a few references to bloodwood and curly maple, there doesn't seem to be much on the subject of comparative bending properties of binding wood.

I haven't bought binding since LMI went out of business, and my present stock has run out. I use a home-made electric bender and one of those spring-steel straps. So far, I've found walnut to be the easiest to bend, followed by maple and rosewood.

LMI's maple never gave me much trouble, but it looks like Stew-Mac sells only the curly maple binding. Curly maple can be cantankerous, so I've used it only for mandolins that don't have hard curves.

I haven't tried koa or ebony, but I hear that that have adhesion problems with hide glue or fish glue.

Does this experience match yours? What woods have you found easy to bend, and where do you get them?

I may be very lucky, but I've not broken any sides or bindings on the bending machine I got from Blues Creek Guitars. and I'm in my 20's of guitars. Everything I've tried, even very figured walnut, cherry, and rosewood have bent just fine. I have, however, broken lots of bindings after I took them out of the bender, some broke while taking them out. All due to user error. Some I've broken while trying to correct the bend in the cut-away section on a hot iron but not in the bender itself.

The figured ones can be very brittle and snap if you catch them on something while handing them or drop them on the floor (cough.) I really like Stewmac and am willing to pay higher than average prices for some of their unique tools and products especially given they are a good company with good service and fast shipping. But I do find their bindings and purfling's to be a bit pricy for my taste, so I started making my own. I've successfully made .08" bindings of Indian rosewood and curly maple by getting some nicely figured boards from my local woodworking shop, then running them through the planer, cutting .25" strips on table saw, then getting to .08" thickness by running them through my drum sander. This way you also can cut and bend some extras in case they do break.

I use CA for my bindings and purflings and though that's not everyone's choice, I find it easy to use since I tape the bindings on 1st then wick in thin CA glue. I can also cinch down a difficult section using accelerator and that helps me do the rest of that side. I haven't had any bindings come off yet. CA is a bit difficult to clean up but I generally don't mind since I leave my final sanding of the entire body till after the binding is on. Might be a very different story if you weren't going to sand the body afterwards.

Pretty much the same experience - figured maple can be finicky, and walnut works really well.

I've been using walnut when I want a dark binding and have used some sycamore for a light binding on a couple of guitars lately. It bends just fine and has a unique look. Let me check my phone and see if I have a pic.

Here’s sycamore on a walnut side.
Like jread, I cut my own bindings from interesting pieces of wood.

Love the sycamore! We have tons of those in my neighborhood here in Indy. I need to try that. I’ve used some for rosette once.

Come to think of it, I think that sycamore was what LMI sold for light-colored binding. Can anybody suggest a source for it? Or for non-figured maple?

jread wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:21 am Love the sycamore! We have tons of those in my neighborhood here in Indy. I need to try that. I’ve used some for rosette once.

I think that sycamore might have been the stuff that LMI used to sell for their light-colored bindings. Can anybody recommend a source for it? Or for the non-figured maple?

jread wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:21 am Love the sycamore! We have tons of those in my neighborhood here in Indy. I need to try that. I’ve used some for rosette once.

I think that sycamore might have been the stuff that LMI used to sell for their light-colored bindings. Can anybody recommend a source for it? Or for the non-figured mapl

JLT wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 1:36 pm
I think that sycamore might have been the stuff that LMI used to sell for their light-colored bindings. Can anybody recommend a source for it? Or for the non-figured mapl

Classical builders use european sycamore for bindings pretty regular; google can help you there.

I don't know of anyone making/selling quartersawn american sycamore like in my picture.

How much do you need/want?

jread wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 9:21 am Love the sycamore! We have tons of those in my neighborhood here in Indy. I need to try that. I’ve used some for rosette once.

I think that sycamore might have been the stuff that LMI used to sell for their light-colored bindings. Can anybody recommend a source for it? Or for the non-figured maple?