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James--

I think the following would be good:

12 of the 18"
15 of the 12"
6 of the 9"

Now, this would be for just doing the binding on a guitar side. You might find other uses for these. I found that, for binding, the only use I had for the 9" was to double them up to replace the 18" size, of which I did not have enough. Alone, the 9" really can't reach around a guitar. Doubled up, they are pretty long, and only good for end-to-end use on the guitar.

I hope that helps, and I'm happy answer any other questions.

I so appreciate it. Thank you!

No worries. I can offer this other bit of info regarding the platform for the body. I designed mine so that the platform is slightly smaller than the guitar body, and the dowel pegs stick out the bottom, rather than out the side. I have the whole thing attached to a foot long pedestal that goes in a vise. This gives me access to all the pegs. Having the platform be smaller, and the pegs on the bottom, were details that I thought were important for the application of horizontal pressure. In my mind, having the pegs come out the sides of the platform, and having the platform be larger than the guitar body, limited the pressure to vertical pressure. I wanted both vertical and horizontal pressure from the bands. I think I made the right choice. The one downside is that you have to be careful with the application of the first band at the waist, because the smaller platform is less stable for the guitar body until there is at least one band holding it.

These bands are the best thing that’s happened to my binding in a long time.




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Amen, James! The binding job I last did with the bands was the tightest binding job I've had so far.

Another thing I am going to do next time: lay down some masking tape along the sides, right under the binding channel. I had a fair amount of dried glue schmutz to clean up, due to the glue running down. I don't mind the small amount that gets on the top and back, because I can clean that up without too much trouble, but I need to keep the sides cleaner during this process. I think the masking tape will help.

That’s a pretty good idea!

I’m thinking of adding the bands to the process. There’s always next day touch up work to be done that I think could be avoided with roping/banding etc. I’ve seen folks that just have a really long piece of surgical tubing...