Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi

Has nayone ever used splated Maple for bindings? Is it stable enough, bend ok etc... had a thought this might be a nice match for a Ziricote build I am planning next? Thoughts on that asthetic also appreciated? (PS just seen Burton LeGeyt's stunning Coco/Swiss guitar on the 'what are you building' thread - with splated maple? end wedge and back strip, am I correct - very nice!)- anyone know where I might get some that could be resawn for bindings?

Thanks in advance

Frank

Hi Frank

I've seen some spalted maple bindings on ebay before now. I have no idea of its stability although the spalted maple rosettes I've used have all been incredibly soft and very easy to break!?

Depends on the spalt, really. Some of it's pretty soft and crumbly and needs to be stabilized before use, my thinking is that if it needs stabilization it probably wouldn't make good binding.
You'd have to find just the right piece to resaw bindings from.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I would be inclined to avoid it. By the time there was enough spalt in the wood to show up in a skinny binding, the wood would be pretty far gone. You probably know when wood spalts it's going rotten. It can get a bit soft and punky in spots. A binding should be pretty hard wood to offer protection to the edge and I think spalted wood may not do it. Just my 2 cents.

Danny

Perhaps you could bend some nice figured maple and then put it in a spalting box. Maybe tape it to a plywood form to maintain the shape. Check the web for instructions on DIY spalting. I used some discolored birdseye maple binding on a guitar and really like the look. I was a little leery of using it because of the grayish color in some areas, but it looks nice under finish.

I wonder if flooding with CA glue would help those weak spots?

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"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

Nice! I guess it may depend somewhat on how it became to be spalted. If it was from the underside of a log , laying on the ground with all the bugs and worms and..... you get the idea. Nature can sure add some very wonderful looks to wood after it has died. Alder is another pretty one that spalts well. It's about the only two usable hardwoods, or more like semi hardwoods, that grow in my part of the world.

Cheers,
Danny

Spalted lumber can be all over the place depending when it was dried.If you can find some that is nicely spalted without the softness that occurs at the end of the process, it should be usable for bindings. I have some spalted red oak bindings ready for one of my builds that i plan to use. Anything with bugs has probably gone too far and is something i wouldn't use for binding as the bugs cause weak spots that wouldn't be good for binding.

It is possible to do, Mike Baranik has been using to great effect some spalted koa for bindings on many of his builds and it looks fantastic. I have wondered if he spalts it himself as he seems to have a ton of it but he may have found a perfect log. I have a lot of spalted maple and elm in the shop and at the most maybe 5-10% of it would be stable enough for bindings and most of that doesn't have the best or most intense visual interest.

I think making it yourself would be the best way to attempt it. I have wanted to try this for a long time but haven't made it happen yet. I am always looking for the dead mans finger in the woods but haven't seen that yet either.

Frank, the end wedge and backstrip on that guitar were spalted tamarind. It has a more yellow cast than the maple and the open pores contrasted nicer with the spalting I think than maple. I think West Penn brought in a ton of it at one point and they in turn sent it to Rockler where I bought it. Many places still sell it but I have never seen a piece long enough for binding for sale. It would have been too soft in my opinion anyway. I backed it up on the backstrip pretty heavily.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Hey Frank,

I've used spalted maple to bind a peghead before. Looks great, but is a pain to work with. I can't imagine binding a body with it, but if you are diligent, and don't mind breaking a few pieces in the process, I daresay it could be done.

If you pull it off, it will look awesome!

-Mark

I've found good scientific and practical info on managing spaulting here: http://www.northernspalting.com. The person running the site is a post doc researcher in spaulting and writes a spaulting blog, I believe, through Fine Wood Working under the name Dr. Spaulting; She also is very responsive to email questions about specific pieces of wood and applications.

Charlie