Binding top and back, how do you all do it?

[MaineGeezer]

Not to discount or minimize the problems you are having, but it may help your anxiety level if you remember that you are your worst critic. Glitches that appear horrendous to you will quite likely be overlooked by others, or considered insignificant; You will also quite likely find that after you've had the completed instrument for a while, you won't notice them either. At least that's been my experience.

[Diane Kauffmds]

What mainegeezer said is very true. Also, we have a tendency to overthink things, which can cause problems. I know that binding is stressful. Try to relax. You're guitar will look great.

[ChuckBarnett]

Thank you all! I agree and see myself as one of the leaders of the overthink pack! But it certainly easier to know what to do after you've done it once, no? ;)

I think that the top can be cleaned up and I can install the perfling and binding that I have. I think in order to salvage the back I could either sand/scrape a whole lot of the side away in a few places that ended up too wide. That seems pretty risky and thus not an option.

The other choice is to give up on the binding that I made and make something beefy enough to fit the widest parts of the channel. I would reset the width accordingly and recut that channel. Without measuring, I am going to guess that we may be talking in the realm of .080 to .090 inch. I meant this koa to 60 thousandths, give or take. Not sure how that will work... better experiment first.

Fact is, given that it is fairly challenging to set the width of the cut using this jig, I'm a rout that channel first and then thickness the binding accordingly. Does anybody else do this?

[ruby@magpage.com]

Chuck

Many of the Chicago made guitars of the 20-30's had binding at .090, so you won't be the first. Here is a 1930's Euphanon made by Larson with the wide binding and no purfling on the back.

[ChuckBarnett]

Okay, so the channel looked wider to my dismayed eyes than it turned out to be. As best I could I used the depth measurement end of a vernier caliper to check and found the widest points to be about .076". That means I can rout to that dimension and then cut the binding at .074 or thereabouts. The dark cloud of despair and doom may be lifting... at least till I find another crisis!

I still have to figure out why the channel didn't come out evenly. Perhaps as was suggested, a combination of number of passes and maintaining that 90° angle of guide to side. I'll try the first time a bit shy of the .076"

[ruby@magpage.com]

Chuck

The only way the channel could be deeper than the setting on the jig is if you tipped the top of the router towards the guitar and the fence was no longer in contact with the side. If the fence is making contact, it can't be deeper. So practice keeping the fence against the side.

Ed

[ChuckBarnett]

I am feeling much better about things. I think the multiple passes is a great tip. Make sense. I paid better attention to maintaining the guide against the sides. Had a couple glitches one which I circled in red. Don't know what to do about that exactly.

[ChuckBarnett]

A few more pics

[ruby@magpage.com]

Glitch is hard to see - I might ignore it and proceed, drop fill latger. Guitar looks great

Ed

[Danl8]

Guitar looks really nice. Go with Ed's suggestion. I've done something similar when routing and fixed by chiseling a tiny edge curl from cutoff scrap & glued and sanded flat. Too much trouble. Go with Ed's suggestion.