Official Luthiers Forum!

Found a bit of time during the holidays to glue up the sound box and install the bindings (Myrtle b&s with Walnut bindings). I ended up with a couple small gaps at the tight bends at the waist and upper bout but they disappeared with a little glue and sanding dust. Do many of you use clamping cauls in this area when installing the bindings? Given the soreness of my thumbs the next morning, I don’t think I would be able to increase the taping pressure next time.

Well, its time to pull up anchor and sail into the next uncharted sea – The Neck.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday.

_________________
Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Way to go!! Looks great!!
Nice Myrtle....

_________________
Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Very nice job!

_________________
Brad
Avon, OH

Good job and outstanding wood. I love that myrtle. Nice combo.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

Awesome wood, looks really nice so far Doug

Great looking work!

_________________
I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

mmmmmmm....m-m-myrtle...*drools*

Nice, clean work!!!

Nice work, Doug.
Sore thumbs and fingers just seem to go with the territory, don`t they?
Coe

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Doug-

That is so pretty! I love the way all the woods work together - it's simple and understated. I love the look of myrtle with the walnut bindings, the burl trim and the bearclaw top. Just awesome - I can't wait to see this with the neck and finish on it.

_________________
John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Doug,
Your guitar looks fantastic! I've been having the urge to try some myrtle
myself. Wonder how it would sound with a redwood top?

Anyway, here's a trick I tried in the waist while putting binding on the top.
I had a heck of a time with the back so I tried this and it worked really
well.
(NOTE: the rubber block on the left is the only one actually doing the
work. The right side was already done at this point and I used the same
method).



I think next time what I'm going to try is to make some blocks that fit the
contour of the waist, attach sandpaper to the contact side of the block
and clamp it in there much like I did with the hard rubber sanding blocks.

_________________
Christopher C. Cordle
North Muskegon, MI

http://www.yardsaleunderwear.com
http://www.facebook.com/christopher.cordle

I have had that problem in the past as well. I like Chris' approach which is simple.

In my case, I bought some of fabric webbing material at a fabrics store which solved my problem, not only at the waist area but closing those small gaps all around. Think I picked this approach up from Robbie O'Brian DVD. Tried to find a picture but dont have. I can shoot one if you need.

Wish my first bindings looked that nice!

_________________
http://www.presnallguitars.com

I always do a dry run to see if there any places that take a lot of pressure to pull up tight. If I find a place, usually in the waist or the upper bout, I steam that area of the binding using an iron and a damp cloth. I do this while the binding is on the guitar and as soon as I steam it I put a couple of pieces of tape over the area to pull it up tight and when it cools it fits much better and I don't have any problem with the glue up.

                               Paul

That looks really sweet!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

First off that looks great from here.

Second, on to the bindings.

If the bindings are shaped right, you really don't need that much pressure to hold them in place, so either there is to much spring back when pulling the bindings out of the bender or you haven't bent them enough on the pipe. Get the binding shape right and you won't have sore thumbs.

(Hey did I sound like Mario there? [BG])

I'm really cheap and I usually only use standard masking tape, one strip for binding and like I said as long as the binding is the right shape, even this inexpensive masking tape will do the job well.

No offense Chris, but that method of sucking the bindings in scares the you know what out of me. One 1/8 of a turn to much, just to get the binding in there and *pop* something can happen.

_________________
My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. You are correct about the bindings Rod. They came out of the bender with some spring back at the waist area and I don’t have a hot pipe to persuade them into the exact shape. A rubber faced caul the same profile as the waist used with a good amount of caution seems tempting though. Since you would have constant visual feedback of the glue joint, you could slowly squeeze just until the gaps close. In fact the “tools and jigs” section on the site links to “Berna Hobby Clamps (Great for clamping your bindings at the waist)”.    Your caution regarding the danger of over clamping is a valid one however. The other obvious solution as mentioned is to buy/build a hot pipe and solve the problem at the source. Has anyone else used clamping cauls with success or disaster?dmills39079.907025463

_________________
Doug Mills
Chicago, Illinois

Doug,

Great Job ! What burl are you using for your back graft and rosette? The Myrtle and bearclaw top are first class. Send us more pictures as you move onto the neck.

_________________
Gene

Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason- Mark Twain