celluloid binding

[Brian Evans]

I've just ordered a wack of celluloid binding in Red Tortoise. Kind of a vintage character - I have a 1940's mandolin with red tortoise binding. I've never used it before, what do I need to know? I usually tape binding and use ultra thin superglue to install. Will that work well? How about acetone - does it dissolve this type of binding/

Thanks, Brian

[Dan Smith]

I use welden 16 solvent cement. It works well on celluloid, ABS, and acrylic.
When I run out, I'm gonna try plastic model cement, the stuff with toluene.
I did some experiments with CA, but the adhesion was not good, and it caused some white blooms on the binding.

[Arnt Rian]

Acetone works fine as a glue, just dissolve some binding material in it, and use the resulting "goo" as a glue. I have tried Weld-on, but I prefer to use Duco cement, I'm sure there are others too. The nice thing about these solvent based glues (and the acetone thing) is that they will "weld" the joint shut solidly, at least if the joint is nice and tight. Remember to wait a while before leveling the binding, as the glue will expand the plastic, causing it to shrink below the surface of the surrounding wood if you level too early.