Source for gold binding?

Eric_Allard

Eric_Allard

Oct 30, 2010
491
386
4,901
Fredericton, NB
#1
Any idea where I can source gold-coloured plastic binding material?

I found some yellow pearloid celluloid binding that should look the part here (link), but I'm not sure how reputable this store is. Also, it's only 0.46 mm thick so I would have to laminate multiple pieces.

Also, any concerns with using celluloid? I've only ever bound one instrument before and that would have been ABS, I believe. A quick search finds that celluloid is dissolvable in acetone so I believe the same techniques should apply. Can anyone confirm?

Thanks!
 
#4
I have some doubts about that being actual celluloid but it could be or it could be a term stuck in the description because that sells better. If it genuinely is celluloid, like Beej said, if you’re using a heat gun to bend it there’s a very fine line between “bending nicely” and “ where’s the fire extinguisher?!?”

If you want to go really nuts these guys have gold sparkle along with a bunch of other colors. It’s sold as drum wrap so you might have to cut your own strips although it seems like they might sell guitar binding sizes also.

 
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#7
I'm probably dating myself here, but one quick way to tell if something is celluloid is to sniff it. It has a very distinct, almost sweet odor, like old school ping pong balls. As others said, it's also violently flammable. I managed to set some on fire just from heat friction against a belt sander. Exciting! I've done two basses with Checker binding, and it's only available as true celluloid. I don't love working with it, it's more brittle than PVC or ABS, so you have to be really careful heat bending it. If you over heat it, it distorts and it's ruined. It does, however, dissolve very nicely in acetone for seamless miters and joins. I take fine binding scrapings and put them in a glass baby food jar with some acetone until it's a toothpaste consistency, works great. This will work with PVC too, but seems to take longer to melt. I haven't seen a real Gold pearloid, just Yellow Pearloid at Rothko & Frost. Not sure if that' real celluloid or not.
 
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#9
I wonder if they still make ping pong balls out of celluloid…. Probably not. My grandfather used make Sailors Bracelet's out of some kind of synthetic sailmakers cord, and welded the cord ends together with ping pong balls dissolved in acetone. You don’t forget that smell. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a gold Pearloid someplace, I know you can get it for fingerboard inlays, but maybe not binding.
 
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#10
Gilmourisgod said:
I wonder if they still make ping pong balls out of celluloid…. Probably not. My grandfather used make Sailors Bracelet's out of some kind of synthetic sailmakers cord, and welded the cord ends together with ping pong balls dissolved in acetone. You don’t forget that smell. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a gold Pearloid someplace, I know you can get it for fingerboard inlays, but maybe not binding.
Click to expand...


The drum wrap place I linked above doesn’t have gold pearl but they have what they call gold oyster which is similar and looks pretty cool. You can order all those colors in various sizes including pickguard blank sizes and they’ll custom cut blanks, not sure how much extra for that though.
 
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#11
Gilmourisgod said:
I'm probably dating myself here, but one quick way to tell if something is celluloid is to sniff it. It has a very distinct, almost sweet odor, like old school ping pong balls. As others said, it's also violently flammable. I managed to set some on fire just from heat friction against a belt sander. Exciting! I've done two basses with Checker binding, and it's only available as true celluloid. I don't love working with it, it's more brittle than PVC or ABS, so you have to be really careful heat bending it. If you over heat it, it distorts and it's ruined. It does, however, dissolve very nicely in acetone for seamless miters and joins. I take fine binding scrapings and put them in a glass baby food jar with some acetone until it's a toothpaste consistency, works great. This will work with PVC too, but seems to take longer to melt. I haven't seen a real Gold pearloid, just Yellow Pearloid at Rothko & Frost. Not sure if that' real celluloid or not.
Click to expand...
”The official material used in table tennis balls was changed from celluloid to plastic, a material free of celluloid, in 2014.”
 
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#13
Eric_Allard said:
Any idea where I can source gold-coloured plastic binding material?

I found some yellow pearloid celluloid binding that should look the part here (link), but I'm not sure how reputable this store is. Also, it's only 0.46 mm thick so I would have to laminate multiple pieces.

Also, any concerns with using celluloid? I've only ever bound one instrument before and that would have been ABS, I believe. A quick search finds that celluloid is dissolvable in acetone so I believe the same techniques should apply. Can anyone confirm?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Back in 1991 I asked a friend to make a semi hollow slab body w/ pearloid binding, using real celluloid. He said it was a PITA because a few times the binding caught fire when heated to form around the tighter curves. But ultimately it worked out & I'm glad it did.

P1250098.jpg
 
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