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 Post subject: Need binding material
PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2025 5:12 pm 
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Walnut
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Looking for 1/4" (6.5mm) or more thickness of a dark brown wood such as walnut, rosewood to make bindings for my build. Anyone have a one off side or piece 3' long. Or know a source. Everything is 3/16ish.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2025 5:36 pm 
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Koa
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Location: Austin, Texas
I'm just wondering...when you say 1/4" thick do you really mean tall?

http://fiddlebackwoodshack.com/products.php?id=22


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2025 7:31 pm 
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Walnut
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Mike_P wrote:
I'm just wondering...when you say 1/4" thick do you really mean tall?

http://fiddlebackwoodshack.com/products.php?id=22

Yes, Quarter sawn thickness. I can cut them. My Transverse bracing was a little thick. I have maple binding tall enough but I want to match my rosette which is Rosewood and I like the light/dark contrast. Appreciate the clarification.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 16, 2025 8:37 pm 
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Brazilian Rosewood
Brazilian Rosewood

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I’ve ordered from fiddleback before, I trust they can sort you out…



These users thanked the author meddlingfool for the post: wade lucas (Fri Oct 17, 2025 9:09 pm)
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2025 10:23 am 
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Contributing Member
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Do you own a bandsaw and a thickness sander? It's very easy to make your own binding from rough materials if you have access to these tools. I buy a lot of rosewood from Gilmer woods, Cook woods, and Rare Woods USA online, processing your own material is considerably more cost effective as it seems many suppliers are charging 6 or more dollars per binding strip



These users thanked the author oval soundhole for the post: wade lucas (Fri Oct 17, 2025 9:09 pm)
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2025 7:19 pm 
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Koa
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I'm guessing I partially misunderstood your query...sounds like you have the means to make your own bindings and looking for a piece of wood to do so.

gilmerwood.com has a few pieces of EIR long enough to do so but to me they aren't all that and perhaps not dark enough for your tastes...remember this: when you make a thin rip on a 3/4" thick flatsawn board you end up with a vertical grain piece that is let's say 1/8" thick and 3/4" tall...that being said just try looking at places that sell the species you want, get a plain sawn board long enough that has the color you like and go to town making thin rips...a bandsaw would minimize waste because of the much thinner blade thickness as compared to a table saw.



These users thanked the author Mike_P for the post: wade lucas (Fri Oct 17, 2025 9:11 pm)
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 17, 2025 9:27 pm 
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Walnut
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Mike_P wrote:
I'm guessing I partially misunderstood your query...sounds like you have the means to make your own bindings and looking for a piece of wood to do so.

gilmerwood.com has a few pieces of EIR long enough to do so but to me they aren't all that and perhaps not dark enough for your tastes...remember this: when you make a thin rip on a 3/4" thick flatsawn board you end up with a vertical grain piece that is let's say 1/8" thick and 3/4" tall...that being said just try looking at places that sell the species you want, get a plain sawn board long enough that has the color you like and go to town making thin rips...a bandsaw would minimize waste because of the much thinner blade thickness as compared to a table saw.

Yes, band saw is what I will use. Just need some thicker wood. My other option is to bring my top down to .100" on the edges and thats not terrible but I want to start making my own bindings any way. Thanks for the suggestions, I will check them out. I really want to stick with wood and not various purfling materials.

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2025 10:29 am 
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Walnut
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Okay, this is embarrassing, this is only my second build but I just realized I can use a side piece, duh. I was confusing myself on "tall". I obviously haven't made my own bindings. I have to laugh at myself as I realized the sides I bent are what I'm trying to cover. Somehow I thought the wood needed to bend the other way, hope that gives you a chuckle. Thanks for the leads and replies laughing6-hehe

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PostPosted: Sat Oct 18, 2025 10:34 am 
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Walnut
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City: Eastsound
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wade lucas wrote:
Okay, this is embarrassing, this is only my second build but I just realized I can use a side piece, duh. I was confusing myself on "tall". I obviously haven't made my own bindings. I have to laugh at myself as I realized the sides I bent are what I'm trying to cover. Somehow I thought the wood needed to bend the other way, hope that gives you a chuckle. Thanks for the leads and replies laughing6-hehe

Oh, and don't worry, I will rip them down before I bend them, I do wonder about myself sometimes. Good grief :roll:

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PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2025 11:26 am 
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Brazilian Rosewood
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'Self' binding can be a nice trick, especially with things like curly maple. You bend the sides taller than they need to be, and, if you're using radius dishes, contour the top and back edges. Then you can use a marking gauge to cut strips off the edges for binding. Make register marks on them before cutting them off so you can get them back in the right place. Cut the binding strips off before you trim the sides to length....

Glue the liners in a bit 'proud' of the edges, so that when you get the top and back on you end up with a ledge that's pretty close to the right height. You'll need to dress it up with a router to get rid of glue squeeze out and square up the edges, of course. You'll also have to sand off the cut edges of the binding to square them up. Bend a strip of purfling to make up for the wood you removed in trimming everything up (this can be the trickiest part). If you didn't lose your register lines, and the ledge is the same width as the side thickness, the binding should go on perfectly, with any figure running across. It looks like you dropped the top in without cutting down the sides and inlaid a line. It took me a few minutes to figure it out the first time I saw one, on a Ken Parker archtop.


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PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2025 2:11 pm 
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Walnut
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First name: wade
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City: Eastsound
State: WA
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Country: usa
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Status: Semi-pro
That is a nice trick, especially blending the back and sides. I need to share pics of my 1st build soon, came out nice. I was pleasantly surprised.

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