Binding Laminator

I used for the first time a laminator. And for the first time did 7-layer bindings. I have read a management and have started to glue. The first experience was bad as the brush very wide and absorbs acetone in a considerable quantity. The bindings first time have torn and deformed. I was upset very much and have bought new bindings. It was the superfluous expense of a material.

The following time I have bought a thin brush in shop. Thin bindings (.020" x. 075 ") are difficult for supervising at pasting. It is necessary to suffer! I recommend to buy at once new thin brushes, to supervise quantity of acetone and not to hasten! Otherwise you should spend your dollars for new bindings!

I got this to laminate the bindings around my Gibson LP headstock which involves small strips. I did like the result with wide bindings but the tiny ones were a nightmare to control. I ended up joining most of them with my fingers. Instead of supplying two rather large brushes one could have been smaller for narrow bindings as it applies too much of acetone distorting them. Also, I believe that variable spring tension would be a good idea.

makes life so easy when laminating binding,will never go without again

The first batch of binding I put through this device mostly ended up in the round file. Not because of the tool but because I'd never done this before and the plastic was melting, deforming and just getting plain messy.
I found that using a Q-tip instead of an acid brush allowed me to control the amount and placement (kept it off the sides) of acetone much better. The most significant improvement in how my binding turned out was from clamping the glued binding so it hung vertically, then attaching a heavier clamp (free hanging) on the bottom end while the curing took place.

The device works fine but I wonder if it wouldn't work better with the spring tension in the vertical vs horizontal. Then the jig could have an adjustable opening to line up the binding pieces with each other. Plus, the acetone would tend to remain where it is intended (wouldn't run).

Normally I use mostly wood binding but for Mandolins the ivoroid plastic stuff is kind of expected. I buy the binding bulk, some pre-laminated, but some is not quite what I want so I need to put it together. This can be done by hand in a vise with wood jaws but it is messy.

The jig from StewMac is only about twenty bucks so it was worth a try an it works slicker than goose ...ahem... on linoleum.

The only thing I did that was different was make it so it could be just bolted down to my bench top. I drilled and tapped another hole near the back end to take a 1/4-20 bolt and that attaches through a hole in the bench I use for many jigs I have. This allows you to lay out the long strips of binding on the bench and they feed through without twisting or hanging on the jig. They suggest this doodad with pieces of pipe to clamp in the vise but that seems like a lot of bother to me.

Anyway, if you do any laminating of plastic binding this is a good cheap tool.

I first thought...I can make one, but after much frustration I bought one. Now I wonder why it took so long. Takes me from novice to near perfect
Thanks great tool...again
Tzen