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Hello, my name is Roger and this is my first post...I just registered. So, hello to everyone.
My question is this: I have a mighty-mite neck for a stratocaster. It has maple fingerboard. The fret tangs are slightly
overhanging. It is very irritating. I could just sand them flush, but I would like to apply a binding instead. My question is will the tangs rout flush with the wood for the binding slot? Can I rout just below the actual frets and create a void to be filled with the binding? Or is this a "sorry too-late" situation? Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Roger.

Hi Roger and welcome.
Don't even consider adding binding, you will just ruin the neck
To bind a fingerboard you generally just cut it a little narrower than the neck width before installation.
You now have curved and tapered faces with frets on the front of the neck, nowhere to adequately register the router.
Anything is possible, but this would be very very difficult.
regards
Jeff

Thanks Jeff. That was what I kind of figured. I just wanted to improve it's appearance.
After viewing many of the other posts in this forum, I am thinking of trying my hand at making a neck from scratch.
I am a cabinet maker and have access to all the needed machinery at my job. Thanks again, Roger.

Roger,

What you might "consider" depending on how annoying those fret tangs are, is to put on a grinding disc on a dremel - and very precisely grind in the fret tangs into the fret slot 0.03" or so...then you could fill with a filler of your choice and not feel the fret tang anymore. This would result in "fill lines" as it will be nearly impossible to hide your work in maple...

Stephen

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Roger, a couple times I have cut binding channels after the fingerboard was slotted and attached to the neck. I have never done it after the fingerboard was radiused though. You would have to pull all the frets, and figure out a way to keep the neck (or router) from rocking while you rout. It would be a whole lot easier on the router table, where you could just stick some shims onto the fingerboard and have it ride face down. Then of course you need to do a re-fret afterwards. Very doable, but a fair amount of work.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

After considering all of your fantastic advice, I've elected to grind off the tangs and fill
the slots. Thanks to everyone for your great input! Roger.