bending Ebony binding

[hat]

does Ebony binding bend very well with a pipe bender iron? I'm getting started on a small body 00/000 in Granadillo, and want to use Ebony for the binding. I'm a good ways from it now, but I need to glue the back up, and wanted to use a center strip that matched the binding. I'm still trying to decide if I want to do a 000, or a 00 slope shoulder though. I don't have a 000, but really love the hog/spruce 00-SS I have. To me, it seems like the ideal body shape.

[ruby50]

I'm interested to hear some answers. I just tried this for the first time with some StewMac ebony binding material and it sure looked like there was severe runout in the pieces. I tried 4 times bending the waist curve of an L-1 shape on my pipe with no luck - I wet them with water, with window cleaner, and even soaked one. Here are 2 of them:



https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby16...7688488198220/

Ed

[charles Tauber]

I find that it takes a very hot pipe and to keep the contact moving: heat an area, not a line. As with all bindings, material selection is important: little runout, straight grain.

[Shuksan]

I've only bound one guitar with ebony but it bent fine on my bending iron. That guitar has fairly tight waist and upper bout bends. As others mentioned above, bendability may vary from one set of ebony to another.

What type of bending iron do you have? If it's the type that StewMac and LMI sell that has a teardrop shape, one technique that can help is to hold the binding against the wide almost flat side of the iron to heat a section and then gradually slide it along toward the larger radius curved face, bending the binding as it comes off the flat face. That way you are continuously preheating a section of the binding before it reaches the curve and you start applying pressure to bend it. It also helps to keep the binding moving and not focus on a single point. Hope that makes sense.

You can also increase your chances of success by treating the binding with SuperSoft II veneer softener overnight before bending.

[Shuksan]

Originally Posted by ruby50

I'm interested to hear some answers. I just tried this for the first time with some StewMac ebony binding material and it sure looked like there was severe runout in the pieces. I tried 4 times bending the waist curve of an L-1 shape on my pipe with no luck - I wet them with water, with window cleaner, and even soaked one. Here are 2 of them:

Some woods bend better when wetted with water only on the inside face of a curve. Wetting the outside face on some woods makes it more likely that the fibers will break under the tension of bending. I don't know if this approach would work for your ebony binding but if you haven't tried that it might be worth a shot. However, you may be right that those particular pieces just have too much runout.

[Bruce Sexauer]

As with all woods, grain aligned material is crucial. There are many species of ebony, so not all may be like the 6 that I have used, but with a hot pipe I have found all to bend very easily. An advantage over most woods is that scorching is not much of an issue.

[hat]

So really just have the pipe hot, and make sure there is little to no runout in the binding? Sounds ok. I've seen a product called 'Rocklite' that is supposed to be an ebony substitute. Solid black vs the stirations in real Ebony. Hmmm, lots to think about.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Originally Posted by hat

So really just have the pipe hot, and make sure there is little to no runout in the binding? Sounds ok. I've seen a product called 'Rocklite' that is supposed to be an ebony substitute. Solid black vs the stirations in real Ebony. Hmmm, lots to think about.

You may mean "Richlite". Don't put it against a hot pipe, I'd think!

[Quickstep192]

Here’s a link to Rocklite that shows their bindings and a video of a guy bending them.

https://www.rocklite.co.uk/phdi/p1.n...ocument&part=3


I haven’t seen this stuff in person, but the pictures look great.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Looks like the limey equivalent. Here’s what I was thinking of:
http://www.lmii.com/products/wood/fi...e-fingerboards

I have used this product, and while it worked as a fingerboard, it was not pleasant. The technical descriptions of the two products sound very similar to me.

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

Looks like the limey equivalent. Here’s what I was thinking of:
http://www.lmii.com/products/wood/fi...e-fingerboards

I have used this product, and while it worked as a fingerboard, it was not pleasant. The technical descriptions of the two products sound very similar to me.

Actually, the two products couldn't be more dissimilar. Richlite feels and looks like hard resin ... Rocklite feels and looks like wood, which of course it is, albeit having undergone a very sophisticated processing.

Rocklite EBANO, to give it its full appellation, works just like wood ... it planes easily, bends easily on a hot pipe, glues easily and holds frets well. Rory Dowling (the luthier in the video) uses it all the time in preference to ebony, and last time I met him he hadn't had any complaints about it.

The one downside is that it is currently more expensive than real ebony, but if you want guaranteed uniform blackness in your fretboard, (and I fully realize that some don't) then Rocklite EBANO is the way to go.

[RodB]

Yes, Rocklite Ebano is not at all like Richlite - it's a shame the names are somewhat similar. It has the look and feel of very uniform ebony (and apparently behaves like wood to work with).

I know 1st hand as I have this Taran built by Rory with Ebano fingerboard and bindings: Taran Guitars-100th Instrument

Definitely worth considering.

[hat]

While I find the Rocklite interesting, I want the streaking and variations in color that real Ebony will provide. the fretboard I have is a streaked Ebony.

[Quickstep192]

Perhaps African Blackwood would be an option for you. It’s nearly as black as ebony, but with some streaks to add interest. I think it’s a little less brittle.

https://www.gilmerwood.com/products/...binding-strips

[Bruce Sexauer]

Both products are made from paper layers in resin, according to their press, which is why I thought them similar. I should have known better, as Taylor and Martin both make wooden guitars, but . . .

I too have little interest is using man-made products when I can use natural wood.