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Hi All,

Long time, no post. I have a quick question.....

I have this piece of curly hard maple that is rift sawn, but I want to it turn into bindings. Would I want to cut this with the quarter sawn face on the wide side of the binding, to show the best curly figure? It seems it would make it easier to bend too.



Thanks, and best regards to all.

Kirt

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Horton, MI

I've been wondering the same thing since I have such a piece I want to turn into bindings.

Waiting to receive the wisdom.

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

i would a;ways go with the face thats shows the best flame.....which sometimes is not always the quartered face......if the flat sawn side looks better.....go with it or vice versa........jrk

Curl is a periodic change in the runnout, and very highly flamed curl runs out a lot. This can make it prone to split long the grain when you bend it. Sometimes it's easier to bend skew cut wood, and the curl will show up nicely when you round off the corner of you get the ring direction right.

I tend to feel that tight curl looks better on binding than curl with a longer period. As a rule of thumb I like to have the figure variation period be something like the same size as the piece I'm making; if there's a curl every 1/4" or so, that shows up well on 1/4" wide binding. 1" curl doesn't show up as well.

Thanks Todd & Joe,

So your saying that no matter what cut, rift flat or quartered, I shouldn't have much trouble bending. I'll be using a mold with a heat blanket. Would I be right in assuming a very light misting to prevent scorching, but not too much water, so that it stays together at the curls?

I've made a couple cuts, and the flatsawn face looks the worst to me. The grain lines are irregular, and the curl is kind of hit and miss. The quartered face looks nice, but if I can cut it as it is in the board (ie. rift) it will be much easier and I will save alot of wood. What do you think?

Kirt

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Horton, MI

Thanks Alan, I was typing while you posted.

When you say "prone to split along the grain", are you talking flatsawn? It's starting to look like rift cut is the way to go.

Kirt

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Horton, MI

Kirt--I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm but rift or quartered curly maple can be a real bear to bend whether it's sides or bindings.
I've never used flat sawn for either but have been tempted on occasion because of bending difficulty.
Nelson Palen

Kirt, I can attest at flamed maples difficulty in bending.
cracks tend to follow the grain in tight turns and can be aggravating.
Basically curl runs in and runs out of a sawn piece.
In maple to get quilt it is flatsawn.
To get flamed it is better to be quartered.
Rift and well you got it going on both directions and could split either direction of bend. Think in and out of the waist or cutaways.

It took me sixteen pieces to do my son's SJ, I wanted all four pieces bookmatched..... to each other.... so get ready to be very patient.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Here is another option.
Quartersawn will show the most intense figure, but the top of the binding will be flatsawn and show little figure. You can maximize the effect of the curlyness if you cut the binding at an angle (say 45 degrees) to the grain, and it looks like your pictured board is well suited for this, you can get the figure to show on both the top and side of the binding, and it looks really nice once the binding is rounded over because the curls will continue right around to the top edge of the binding. You have to pay attention to orient the binding so that the vertical grain is perpendicular to the upper outside corner of the binding. If you get the orientation backwards the effect is lost.

Crude attempt at drawing end view of binding showing grain orientation:

I///I
I///I outside
I///I
I///I
I///I
I///I

Another Data Point:

I used home made curly maple binding on my first guitar. At .060", I bent it on a pipe with no troubles whatsoever. Unfortunately, I have no recollection of how I oriented the grain.

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http://www.birkonium.com CNC Products for Luthiers
http://banduramaker.blogspot.com

Thanks for the help guys, haven't checked in for a couple days.

I'll be sure and tell you how it turns out when the time comes.

Kirt

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Horton, MI