Binding has cracks when mounted

[buckhorn]

About 90% of the time, I get a really good joint when I glue up my binding. This time I used black ABS for my binding. While level sanding, the dust seeped into the cracks and is a bear to get out. With a tooth brush and compressed air I'm able to get most all dust out. With a fine paint brush, and left over lacquor , I fill the cracks, then sand smooth again with fine sand paper. It's not so much of a problem showing with light color binding and it's my first time with black. I'm wondering if down the road the cracks might show up again. Next time I'll fill in before I level sand when using dark binding.. Keith

[rcc56]

You might want to consider using celluloid rather than ABS the next time.
Yes, there's that durn hazmat fee to pay, but it will bond much better to wood, and the labor time you save will pay for the extra shipping charges.
Available from Axiom Inc. www.axinc.net. Buy in bulk-- the hazmat fee is the same whether you buy 1 piece or 100.

[amowry]

You might try scraping the binding flush instead of sanding, and then filling any small gaps with a mixture of hot hide glue and clean wood dust (or just hide glue for very thin cracks) before doing any sanding. Lacquer isn't particularly good at filling gaps, IMO. With celluloid binding, hairline gaps between the binding and wood will magically fill if you just brush them with acetone. It swells the binding and bonds it to the wood. I do that right after binding and then let it sit for a few weeks or more to shrink back before final sanding. Having never used ABS, I'm not sure if it behaves similarly.

[Jim Hilburn]

Said it before but worth repeating.
ABS is great! For sewage pipe.

[bpatrick]

I've used ABS binding in repair jobs to match existing ABS binding. I really don't like the stuff in comparison to celluloid. It kind of reacts to acetone, but not in a good way. It gets softer but doesn't make a good lamination with other ABS or wood. Celluloid is the way to go.

[rcc56]

I installed a replacement fingerboard on a c. 1930 Gibson A-4 a couple of years back. The original had white binding rather than the grained ivoroid of the 1910's models. I didn't have any white celluloid on hand, so I used some modern white binding that had been lying around in a drawer for some time. I don't know whether it was ABS or Boltaron, or if there is indeed any difference between the two, but it turned a routine job into a difficult one. I found out that good old Duco cement, which is a go-to for celluloid, did not bond to it very well. Acetone was ineffective as an adhesive. Neither did nitrocellulose lacquer bond to it well, nor even shellac [which will stick to darn near anything]. After a few rubs with acetone, I did finally get some finish on it, but it was a chore and the bond was still mediocre.

The extra labor time it took to work with the stuff would have paid for the extra shipping charges for an order of celluloid several times over. Although I may or may not use up my remaining stock of the modern plastic, I won't order any more of it unless I have no other choice.

I do know this: Celluloid bonds well to Duco cement, nitrocellulose lacquer, and shellac. And there a couple of magic tricks we can perform with celluloid and acetone.

[Rob Roy]

I've only used ABS once. It was on an oval A that got a black finish anyway. I put it on with a fresh batch of Luthier Merc's binding cement that did the job well. After scraping back, I don't recall having to drop fill any voids. I actually don't enjoy putting plastic on wood, but for scraping back to a sunburst finish there just aren't a lot of options.