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I've bound a good number of bodys, but never one that had real tight curves like the one I am binding right now. I've always heard that you have to use a heat gun for such areas of binding. I went ahead and bound it without the use of a heat gun and it's all very nice and tight except for some white stretch marks in the tight curve areas of the black plastic binding. Is there any good way that you have come up to to get rid of these stretch marks or are they there for good? Perhaps putting a heat gun to it now would soften them? Maybe I can throw some dye on there?

Irving,
I have done the same thing. I can't advise you how to get rid of the little "stretch" marks in your installed binding, but I expect some seasoned builders will chime in with good suggestions. Until then, just know that you don't need a heat gun like a paint stripper gun. All you need is a hair drier to warm the binding up on your next one before you bend it tightly. A pan of hot water would probably do the trick, too. Take your time and get the tight bends really warm before bending, and I doubt this will ever happen to you again.

I'll be watching with you to see if there is a "cure" for the stretch marks. I hope it comes out to your satisfaction.

Patrick

You can get rid of them by carefully heating the binding with a heat gun.

Ideally you should use a gun with temp control & temp readout like a Steinel model HG3000 - about $160 from Allied electronics so that the temp is precisely controlled. Not cheap but a very handy tool that's serviceable.

I think somewhere around 300 deg F is the magic temp. You should experiment with a scrap of your binding to be sure.

I had the same problem on my LP & the gun did the trick.

Kevin Looker

Edit:
It's a Steinel model HG3002

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I ended up using a wood burner and a piece of wet paper towel. Same method as steaming small dents out of wood. Kept the wood burner moving as not to melt the plastic and the white stretch marks are now gone.