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Nelson, that looks great! I like the looks of that chisel. What brand is that?

People are surprised by the use of hand tools here as well.

_________________
John Watkins
CNC Guitar Parts

I've found binding of the F-holes to be one of the most difficult tasks to master in archtop building. I can finally say that after building 45 that I'm now comfortable with it, at least with ABS binding. The sharp miters could easily be called "the miters from hell". Magnification and lots of light is a prerequisite, at least at age 59. The scalpel with throw-away blades is probably one of the handiest weapons in the arsenal. I was thinking Monday evening, while doing some binding, that it's been quite a while since I stabbed myself. Must have been about 10 minutes later............
Nelson   P.S. I'm saving the Koa binding for the last of this run. I've been leaning on Anthony Zlahtic for moral support for several months now.

John--I believe that chisel came from Japan Woodworker but not sure of the brand. I have a "duke's mixture" of chisels acquired over the years.
I am wondering how I'm going to sharpen this particular chisel once the tip gets back into the hollowed area. May not live that long but anyone have any ideas?
Nelson

Nelson, flatten the back of the chisel to extend the flat area.

[QUOTE=npalen]
I am wondering how I'm going to sharpen this particular chisel once the tip gets back into the hollowed area. Nelson
[/QUOTE]

Nelson,

I've read that the proper technique is to tap (pound) it down from the top. If you just lap it flat, you may take off too much of the hard steel on the edges. I believe Japan Woodworker has a special (expensive) tool for this purpose; but it seems like a punch, and hammer, backed by a good dose of frustration, would get the job done.

Hi Carlton
Not sure if I follow you on the "tap(pound) in down from the top". Can you elaborate on that?
Thanks
Nelson

[QUOTE=npalen] Hi Carlton
Not sure if I follow you on the "tap(pound) in down from the top". Can you elaborate on that?
Thanks
Nelson
[/QUOTE]

Nelson,

Press (or pound) the steel down from the bevel side, until the cutting steel on the back is again level along the cutting edge, then re-lap and resharpen. In other words, you're squishing a little of the hollow flat so you can continue to use the chisel. I've read that this is common practice in Japan. It looks like a lot of work to me, but then again, ya don't want to throw away those hand-made tools!

Up-thread, there was some discussion of small benders. I use the high temp heating elements from mcmaster. Watlow makes some too. www.mcmaster.com search for 4877K421 -- click on see catalog page. I put it through a variac, but you probably need to control the voltage somehow, they get orange hot if you let them.

Did a little trial bending this evening with .050 Koa. Seemed to work well but did notice a little edge fracture when bending dry. (See scroll on the right.) A water spritzed bend worked okay.
I do need to make the mandrel slighly larger however as had zero springback. The piece was tight on the mandrel after bending.
Nelson
npalen38673.9902199074

That looks pretty good Nelson!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Good stuff Nelson, looks to me like you are all over it. Please post some pics if you can as you progress!

Also made a UHMW caul for holding the Koa in place when CA'ing in the F-hole. It's the same size as the aluminum bending caul mounted to the end of the iron as shown above. Discovered happily by accident that the caul will lock itself in place if turned c'clockwise as shown in the photo. That feature should come in handy when doing plastic bindings also as it's always tough to get a nice fitup all around the inside of the F-hole.
Made a set of these for the purfling also. (CNC, of course)
Anthony--I found that a temp of 170C/340F works good for bending the Koa without scorching it.
Nelson

That's pretty slick Nelson. The koa looks nice against the b/w/b purfling! I trust the purfling is made of wood....

Ya gotta admit that was pretty slick of me to con you into using Koa so you could show me the way

More pics please Anthony Z38678.8723263889

Yep, you're a slick one allright, Anthony.
More pics will be definitely forthcoming if I ever get this thing done. She's going to be a beauty.
Would I even consider mixing plastic purfling with wood binding? Yes, because at this point I'm not sure you can tell the diff after applying and finishing the lacquer. Please chime in here.
Yes, this is wood B/W/B, laminated with titebond. The layers sure like to slipnslide from the bending heat but seems to work okay.
What fun!
Nelson
npalen38679.468900463

Nelson,
That looks really good!
You can tell the difference between wood and plastic purfs. Plastic and the fiber stuff not so much difference. Both the plastic and fiber are a lot whiter than maple purflings and if you start intermixing them you can tell.
I really like your little clamping cam,it is a clamp right?

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Jim
Clamping Cam is a good name but it didn't start out that way. Discovered by fiddling that twisting it would not only cam the binding against the wood but it also locks in position. Had initially planned to drill and tap 1/8NPT-27 tapered pipe thread, split the UHMW nearly in half and then spread it for clamping with an 1/8" pipe plug.   Used UHMW so that CA spillover wouldn't bond.
Thanks for the heads up on the wood vs. plastic.
Nelson

Nelson,

If you mix plastic purfling and koa together -- never look to me for moral support (or pages of written binding directions replete with photos again). That will be it, our mutual friendship and free sharing of ideas will be over. A Nelson Palen - VOO-DOO Doll will become a permanent fixture on my desk which I will torment with pins every coffee break taken in a day.

Seriously as Jim Watts suggested -- you really can see a difference between plastic and wood purfling. BTW: Your b/w/b theme with the Koa looks great my friend.

Cheers,

Anthony Anthony Z38679.6881481481

Anthony--Are you saying that I should NOT mix plastic and wood bindings?

No, I think he's saying it's OK

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Now I more cornfuzed than I wuz.

Meds have kicked in -- I've got the turrets under control again -- or -- is it binding envy?