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Comment by darren brown on December 1, 2011 at 1:17am

very nice .

 

Comment by Bear on August 17, 2011 at 3:06pm

Bluesheart -- Stickers and small labels on cigar boxes can usually be removed with lighter fluid, but the paper edge banding (I'm calling it "banding", though it IS like "binding"!) as well as large paper labels are stuck on with a hide or paste-type glue that doesn't respond to petroleum based solvents. To remove it (and re-use it!) requires moisture -- soaking it off, really. But just soaking the box in water can make the paper labels and banding very fragile, as well as have undesirable results for the wood underneath, so I use an old bookbinders' technique (actually, I am a bookbinder, too!) which you can think of as "contolled moisture". You apply a paste (recipe to come momentarily) to the banding, and it imparts moisture to loosen the glue underneath. Usually only takes ten minutes or so for the paste to do its work, and the banding can be gently removed, then rinsed or wiped off and set aside to dry, or, if need be, pressed inside a book to dry very flat.

 

Here's the recipe for the paste:

 

2 tsp. corn starch

1/3 cup water.

 

Put corn starch in water and stir continuously over very low heat till it begins boiling (usually only takes a few minutes). Pour paste into a small container, allow a few minutes to cool, and you're ready to go! Might be a good idea to practice on a box you don't plan on using, to see how it works.

Comment by jason fitzgibbons on August 16, 2011 at 7:18am

man that is a beauty right there my friend

Comment by Bluesheart on August 15, 2011 at 12:57pm

NIce job and a lot of work for sure. Any info on how you saved the binding, that must have been a B#%!@!

Comment by Gadsden Guitars on August 15, 2011 at 8:44am

Cool, looks awesome.