The next thing I did today was to prepare my bloodwood bindings for bending. This time I made sure not to make the same mistake I had made last summer; I had only put the bindings (taped together) into the bending machine, not realizing the waist caul and spring steel would slant down on one side, crushing one side of the binding. This time I made sure to support the bindings on both sides with the scrap strips from cutting my sides. (Luckily, they were both the same thickness, 3/32"!)

 

  

 

I wrapped the bindings in the same way I did the sides (foil and moistened Kraft paper) and bent them in the bender. They came out perfectly!

 

INDEX:

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  1. Planning
  2. A Little Change in Plans...
  3. Back Braces
  4. Carving the Back Braces & Cutting the Top Braces
  5. The Rosette / Tapering the Fingerboard
  6. Bracing the Top
  7. Carving the Braces / Gluing the Soundhole Braces & Bridge Plate
  8. The Finished Top and Back!!! / Cutting and Bending the Sides
  9. Fixing Cupped Sides / Making Spreaders & Clamping Cauls
  10. Neck and Tail Blocks
  11. Sanding the Radius into the Sides / Gluing the Kerfing Strips / Side Reinforcements
  12. Fitting & Gluing the Back
  13. Fitting & Gluing the Top
  14. We Have a Soundbox Now!!!
  15. Bending and Routing for Bindings
  16. Gluing the End Wedge & Bindings
  17. Scraping the Bindings
  18. Beginning the Neck
  19. The Neck, Continued!!!
  20. The Neck, Day 3
  21. Peghead, Tuners, Dots, & Frets!!
  22. Peghead Inlay
  23. Backstrap & Gluing the Fingerboard
  24. Carving the Neck / A "Duh!" Moment / Side Dots / Preparing for Finish
  25. Pore-Filling and Sealing
  26. Spraying the Top Coats
  27. Finishing the Finish / Gluing on the Neck
  28. Gluing on the Bridge
  29. Set-Up / It's All Done!

 

 

 

   
   

While the bindings were cooling down and setting in the bender, I then turned my attention to routing the binding and purfling channels. (Sorry, I didn't take any pictures!) I set the soundbox in the same cradle I showed on this page, did some test routs on scrap wood, and routed away!!! I ended up using the .080" bearing bit (from LMI) for the binding ledge, then the .130" bearing bit for the purfling ledge.

My binding scheme is very simple (my guitars tend to get more and more basic in their decoration as the years go by, and, for this one, I was trying to use up whatever spare materials I had on hand): bloodwood binding with a simple B/W/B wood purfling. The bloodwood binding already had the side purfling (W/B) on it.

 

Below are a couple of photos of how it's going to look. After taking the bindings out of the bender, I have just taped them (dry) into the ledges, just to see how they fit and to hold them there till tomorrow, when I will work on it further.

Tomorrow, I will first make my end wedge — actually, not a wedge, but just two of the bloodwood bindings glued together (with the purfling on the outside). I think I'll miter the side purflings to the wedge strip purflings. After that's done, I'll glue in the bindings and purflings with Titebond.

That's enough for today. I can relax now. (Routing binding channels always stresses me.)

   

 

  

 

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