Official Luthiers Forum!

I placed an order with LMI tonight and paid $30 for shipping due to my
tortoise bindings. They're already on the expensive side, but $30 for
shipping? It was more to ship five bindings than to buy five bindings (but
not by much, which is also annoying). I'm entirely confident that I'll get
some nice tortoise bindings, but geez.

I was thrilled with the $2.50 shipping from John Watkins.

Ouch!

Mike

They are paying hazmat fees. It isn't their fault. They are at the mercy of the carriers.

I recently bought some from a different supplier and paid the same fee.

It sucks... but what are you going to do.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Oh really? That does suck. It'd cost less to drive there to pick it up. Did
you like the stuff you got? Where did you get it?

I got four sets from Martin Guitar a couple of months ago and did not have to pay the hazmat fee.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Welcome to my world.

Actually $30 is cheap, I'd be happy with that.

Me to Paul, me to larkim39024.5000231481

I bought some tortoise shell binding from hanalima.com just to avoid the hazmat fee. But the binding is for ukuleles. It looks like it will work for a guitar, you just have to order more to get enough. But I'm using it on a mandolin, so I didn't mind. Shipping was only $10 from HI.
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

Why is there a hazmat fee attached to plastic bindings?

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Aoibeann

Lillian, supposedly, Toroise shell is higly flammable.

Order from Martin--I was very pleased.

[QUOTE=Serge Poirier] Lillian, supposedly, Toroise shell is higly flammable. [/QUOTE]

That's what guided The Beagle to the Gallapagos Islands. The flares in the night sky from the self-igniting giant tortoises could be seen from hundreds of miles away Dave White39024.5265277778

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

There another one goes!Dave White39024.525775463

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Hey Dave...


Hey Dave...





Yes, tortoise-shell and ivoroid bindings fall into that category of being highly flammable. Oddly enough, so do ping-pong balls. They're pretty much the same material.

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

So, were tortoises made of celluloid?

Ron

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OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Hi guys,

Natalie from LMI. The tortoise, ivoroid and pearl bindings are celluloid nitrate. This is a highly flammable product and regulated by the Department of Transportation. In order to ship it, we must abide by the DOT rules, be trained to ship it, store it in very expensive cabinets, etc. Nevertheless, we chose to continue to offer it for sale. The $20 fee is a straight pass through fee generated by the carrier.

Hi Natalie!
Thanks for the info!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Very interesting, Natalie.

With shipping, it sounds like plastic bindings are now just as expensive as any wood bindings you can buy -- even LMI's Snakewood, unless you get the highly-figured stuff.

Hmmmmmmm.

So why are custom buildings still using plastic? That's not sarcastic or rhetorical --- for those purchasing plastic, is it because your clients prefer the plastic look to the wood look, or are you buying it for ease of use?

I'm using it because I can't think of any wood that looks like tortoise shell   
   If you check out Walker's website, I believe something can definitely
be said for the look of ivroid. I just like a contrast of material at times for
texture's sake. That's what I'm more focused on. Texture and look, as
opposed to material, regarding design peripherals like binding if we're
talking about a guitar. Truth be told, I'm not Mr. Luthier. I haven't
produced guitars like most people here. I do a lot of mixed media art
though. A coffee table I made uses black wood legs and a copper top
that I patinized (gave a patina to).      

[QUOTE=Dave White] That's what guided The Beagle to the Gallapagos Islands. The flares in the night sky from the self-igniting giant tortoises could be seen from hundreds of miles away [/QUOTE]



Beautiful David, as always your post was most enlightening Obviously reptilian illumination as an early means of naval navigation is deserving of much greater recognition among the historical maritime fraternity. I for one remain most disappointed that this had not been bought to my attention earlier.

Cheers

Kim

it sounds like plastic bindings are now just as expensive as any wood bindings

Not correct. TS and ivoroid are celluloid, which is a very close cousin of TNT.

Plain white and black bindings and purflings are not celluloid, and are not flammable.

I have a lot of clients who prefer plastics over wood bindings. No woods look like TS bindings or ivoroid, or the pure white and plain black. Plastics are better on fretboards, also, as they don't get grungy-looking like light colored woods do. Plastics also protect against bumps and dings better.

Since I've always cut my own wood bindings, even flamed maple bindings have always been cheaper than plastics for me. Wood bindings have always seemed easier to install, for me, since we can use plain 'ol wood glue. So, the choice is not always about costs or ease; sometimes,we choose plastics simply because they are better for the situation.Mario39024.8393287037

Oops btw - I totally understand about the shipping cost now.

Shhhhhhhh!

Nitro lacquer, once cured, is but a solid film of an inert substance; safe even for children's toys. And I believe there are no nitrates in today's' nitrocellulose lacquers. But nitric acid is still a primary ingredient in celluloid plastics. It is this that won it its haz-mat rating.

The bindings, once installed, have less than half of their original surface area exposed, and are encased by the finish, anyhow.

A little edumacating goes a long way towards making sense of things.... Stop picking on the suppliers.