bending plastic binding

[JLT]

I searched the archives and found nothing, but I'm sure this has come up before.

When a luthier friend of mine retired from the craft about ten years ago, I inherited some black plastic binding (0.08" x 0.22") and I figured I would use it on a partially built cutaway OM guitar, which I'm finishing after the original builder gave up on it.

I usually use wood binding for my builds, but I was intimidated by the sharp bends of the cutaway, so plastic seemed to be a better option. When I used it on the back, though, the plastic was too stiff to make the bends without a great deal of force. It got better when I used a heat gun (on low) to soften the binding so that it would bend, but found that the binding would develop a twist that was hard to get out. Now that I'm faced with binding the top, I think it's time I consulted the hive mind before possibly wasting a lot of the remaining binding on experiments.

What are the best ways of making plastic binding more pliable? Bend them as if they were wood, on a bending iron? Heat them at low temperatures, say in a very slow oven? Has anybody figured out a safe, consistent way to do this?

I don't have a fancy side-bending heater, nor do I even have a mold for this particular guitar, since it came partially assembled. And it occurs to me that the problem may be the age of the binding... it had been sitting in a storage locker in the summer sun for years, and might have hardened.

[Fathand]

If it's a sharp bend, they are sometimes cut and mitred.

A pic of the bend you are attempting might help.

You could try hot water.

[JonWint]

I used vanilla Corian for binding on a Stauffer style Martin. I thought the Corian was a good substitute for ivory in color and texture. Only problem with it is that it's brittle.

I needed to heat it to at least 140 degrees to bend it. I bent it on the guitar (dry) and glued it after cooling.

In your case, I'd dry install and only heat it with a heat gun in the short radius areas as needed. Apply a little pressure and heat until it bends. Same process as when bending sides.

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[JLT]

Originally Posted by Fathand

If it's a sharp bend, they are sometimes cut and mitred.

A pic of the bend you are attempting might help.

The bend is similar to the one on this Gibson:

https://media.musiciansfriend.com/is...-2000x2000.jpg

Well, I did some experimenting this morning. I tried three methods:

1. Taped the binding onto the guitar and then heated it with a hair drier. I couldn't get the temperature higher than about 120* F and, when I removed the tape, the plastic returned mostly to its former state, although it did bend slightly. (All temperatures were taken via one of those laser thermometers.)

2. Put it into a slow oven at around 200* F (actually a solar oven). When I took it out, it was very flexible but when I taped it and let it cool, the bends straightened.... not as much as the first method, but enough to discard that idea.

3. Heated my bending iron to about 170* and bent the binding just as if I were bending wood, but without using water. The binding bent like a charm and, when it cooled, it stayed in that shape.

That was the end of the experiment, and since it had reached 90* in the shop, I called it a day.