Official Luthiers Forum!

I have some Holly a customer wanted to use instead of maple since it is very white and homogeneous looking. It appeared to be a good idea for a sub for white or cream plastic binding as my taste for using plastic is about over. I prefer wood as do most now for the obvious reasons.

My concern is the piece I recieved, from a reputable dealer I think, came sealed nicely and packaged well and appeared to be a really nice 1" x 5" x 40" board except for a very slight cupping. At the time I received it was told it was dry and stable and ready to use. A few days ago (2 months after receiving it) I'm going through my wood taking inventory and decided to pull it out and look at it and now it is very warped. The cupping is much worse and it has taken on the shape of an auger!!

I'm almost afraid to bind a guitar with it and have it decide to move later and let go and the repairs be on me. Anybody have any thoughts on this? Thanks.

_________________
"We might not be big but we sure are slow"

-

After the bindings are glued in place I wouldn't worry about the wood moving. get it under a heating blanket and a flat board to flatten it out and it should be fine.

_________________
Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

the piece I have is extremely nice. No knots, free and clear of any defects or discoloration. It almost looks as if it was painted it is so white. It is cut on the slab and is cupping as you would expect. I will probably lose at least 1/8" to 1/4" to joint one side flat. I will probably cut most of it into binding blanks.

Thanks for letting me know it should perform fine after being glued up.

_________________
"We might not be big but we sure are slow"

If you're going to use most of it for bindings, I'd suggest starting to cut it up without jointing it flat. Otherwise, you're just wasting a lot of wood. You can always rip it on the band saw so that you don't need anything to be square, straight, or flat like you would to rip it safely on the table saw. For bindings, I don't think it will matter much that the wood is squirrelly.

_________________
Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Much of the stained or painted wood binding that the luthier shops sell is holly. The stuff stains very well and is really flexible. Holly trees grow like weeds here in Louisiana. I have harvested a couple of trees and used lots of the stuff for assorted projects. Good luck!