Greg 57 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I've got an early 70's J-50 in my shop for restoration. The tortoise celluloid binding is crumbling. Removing the old binding carefully using heat and sharp chisels seems pretty straight forward. However, gluing in the new binding may be trickier. Anyone with experience on this kind of repair have any suggestions? My biggest concern is how to glue in the new bindings tightly without getting any glue squeeze-out on the gloss finish. Most glues I've seen recommended for celluloid would damage lacquer and are not water-cleanup. I work mostly with wood binding and hide glue so this is a bit different for me. Any help would be appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 It normally should happen no more with a 70's guitar, but celluloid tends to combust when heated. Being an explosive, it won't take oxygen for that. Crumbling is not a good sign in this respect. Brisance depends on the substitution grade of the main component cellulose nitrate, incorrectly named nitrocellulose. Highly substituted material may explode at about 38°C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I work mostly with wood binding and hide glue... Hide Glue is what I would use, AND HAVE USED, to re-glue loose binding. It's water soluble, so clean-up, even off the lacquer, is a breeze. Warm, damp, soft cloth is all you need. Hide glue is dissolved by heat OR water. There are a couple of YouTube vids out there showing installation of binding at one of the Gibson Plants. Very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg 57 Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Hide Glue is what I would use, AND HAVE USED, to re-glue loose binding. It's water soluble, so clean-up, even off the lacquer, is a breeze. Warm, damp, soft cloth is all you need. Hide glue is dissolved by heat OR water. There are a couple of YouTube vids out there showing installation of binding at one of the Gibson Plants. Very interesting. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out the videos. This will be new binding replacement, the original is not loose but crumbling. I did not know that hide glue can be used on celluloid- if so that makes the job a lot easier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 As I recall, Gibson uses a million giant rubber bands as clamps to hold the binding in place while gluing. There definitely is a video of that somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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