Here's an inexpensive source for celluloid tortoise shell binding

[Brian Stewart]

I had to do a repair on some tortoise shell fingerboard binding the other day and went looking to my usual sources for some.  Stew Mac doesn't sell it at all, and LMI charges an arm and leg for shipping because celluloid is apparently hazardous.  I was bummed.

I turned to ebay to see what was available, maybe find a used piece from an old guitar or something.  Well I found a Chinese supplier that was selling 5ft of the stuff for less than 5 bucks...and that included shipping!  I took a chance and ordered some up.

The binding came in the mail today.  Took a little over a week to get here directly from China.  It looked good and closely matched the binding on the guitar.  Got the repair mostly done.

I don't usually go to ebay or amazon for supplies, but I'm starting to do it more.  The prices are hard to argue with, and so far I haven't been burned.  The last luthier tool I got was a safety planer copy off ebay.  I've used it a few times and it seems to work fine and be built well...although I never was able to get an original, so...

Anyway, I'd post a link to the supplier where I got the binding, but I'm not sure if that is against the rules or not.

[William F.Eden]

Thanks Brian that looks like nice binding. There have been others looking for the same binding on here before and I am sure they will be happy you found a supplyer. Bill...............

[Thomas James]

Thanks Brian!

A lot of people bash eBay, but overall I have had great luck both buying and selling for years. I've made money and got good deals.

[Robert May]

Heck, just hearing yourself read the sender address out loud is worth 5 bucks.

[Brian Stewart]

Yeah, I kind of got a kick out of reading the address, too.  The seller's ebay store name is kind of funny, too:  friendstore1682010.

I'm going to be purchasing a cartridge heater from China pretty soon, too, in order to make a bending iron.  Hopefully that will work out as well as the binding.

Apparently the USPS has worked out some kind of deal with China's postal service for shipping small items.  They call it ePacket Delivery, & I believe that may be why we can get items shipped so cheap/free from there.

[Ian Pender]

Friendstore, ha, I just ordered tortoise she'll binding from them as well, couldn't help laughing at that.

[Kerry Krishna]

Man, that looks great! I can't see how it would be against the Forum rules... 

[Mark Pollock]

Okay, I really don't want to be a spoilsport here, because I really want to order some of this cheaply, BUT...

Isn't a lot of the expense of getting celluloid domestically due to the price of shipping what is considered a hazardous material? And doesn't the USPS prohibit the shipping of celluloid? (Which is stupid, of course, but still the law.)

What I'm saying is - if you are going to order something that is not legal to ship in the way it is being shipped, you might stop for a moment and think about if your local USPS people are the kind who would take umbrage at it.

Oh MAN, I want to order some of this...

[Brian Stewart]

Mark, I hear you.  In fact, I did struggle with the idea of purchasing it for those very reasons.  Then I thought of my customer's need & the fact that a small package of celluloid will not cause the post office to burn down.  Also, I figured that since a deal was made between the Chinese postal service & the USPS, they probably know that things like this are being shipped.  It doesn't look to me like anyone is trying to hide what they are doing.

I don't go out of my way to skirt "the rules" when it comes to things like this, but I think restricting how small quantities of celluloid are shipped across our country may border on the absurd.

[Glen H]

It is absurd.  I've ordered it from Martin and they didn't charge any "hazardous" surcharge.

[Ned Knepp]

Maybe this is a dumb question, but is it really "celluloid"?  

[Brian Stewart]

Smells like it when you sand it.

[Thomas James]

I don't know the shipping rules or laws, but I can't help thinking about the mountains of celluloid picks shipped every year by Fender, Dunlop, etc, etc, etc. How much of this mass is imported / exported?