Making the binding and purfling of guitar (front)

20201219
Now to work on the front binding channel side.
I had to figure out how to hold the guitar this way.
So I added a wood tension and clamp down the guitar.
I also fixed the L wooden bracket with dowels.
Now I am ready for the front binding channel.
For this side I go by the hand binding route instead.
I find that it has more control.
Luckily for me I had my own binding cutter as well the LMI gramil.
I set mine as the top cutter and the gramil as the side cutter.
This time round I use my 2m chisel and shave down the sides as I scribed it.
This method works great but abeit slower.
My paring chisel with a square reference (not bevelled) works great in this case too.

Holding down the guitar using some wood spring tension

The butt L-bracket is reinforced with dowels.

Cutting the top part using my binding cutter.

Scraping the side part using LMI gramil

The cut line by the gramil

Chiseling the waste away

Test fitting the channel

Almost end in sight

20201226
Merry Xmas everyone.
Next I began to cut the purfling channels.
This is relatively easy as the cutter can easily scribe the spruce without any issue.
I only need to control the depth not to cut too deeply.
But even if cut all the way thru' it should not be an issue, as my linings are about 10mm wide more than enough to support the top.
To cut the purfling channels accurately, I use my router plane and set the depth and cut in 2 passes.

When the channel is ready, I began to glue the purfling after some test fitting.
For holding the purfling, tape is still the best medium as it can apply the force in a wide area (equals the width of the tape used) After some time the gluing is done.
I did a joint on the purfling, which looks very good.

Test fitting the binding

Close up of the binding channel

Scribing the purfling channel

Cutting the purfling channel using a router plane

Test fitting the purfling

Close up of the purfling channel

Close up of the purfling channel

Gluing the purfling using tape

Spreading the glue in the channel

All done.

Preparing the binding and cutting it to length

Check the fit

20210102
A Happy New Year to all!
I began gluing the front binding after checking all the fit.
I was contemplating whether to do both at the same time or one by one.
If doing one by one, the fitting at the butt end can be made to perfection.
But the rope pressure might damage the purfling.
If doing both at the same time, the fitting could be more tricky to handle.
In addition the rope tying sequence will be affected unless I started at the waist.
In the end I decide to go one by one.
Again by using just rope only I am able to see any gaps and close them before the glue dries.
If surrounded by tapes, I cant see anything...

The next day I did the other side repeating the same procedure.
The purfling was alright luckily.
Anyway the purlfing is a bit proud of the top surface so it can be sanded down easily.

Gluing the front binding.

Close up

Binding on the other side

Close up

20210109
Once the glue dried completely, I took off the ropes and began to scrape the binding flush with with sides and top.
There are some areas which I fill the gaps with saw dust and glue.
The effect came out very good.

After the rope removed

Scraping the sides

Waste from all the scraping..

End graft after sanding and scraping

Front view after sanding and scraping

Installing the binding and purfling

20180622
Next I cut the binding channel on the back of the guitar.
Normally I will cut the top binding channels first for but this time round I cut the back bindings
Also I bent the bindings.
I thought ebony was hard to bend but they came out pretty good.
Think overall my method had improved as I use another iron to heat the other side of the wood.
That really helps in the bending.

I describe a bit about my new method of bending.
Actually there isn't much difference from my previous method.
Previously I will use 2 blocks to support the back of the curve portion during the bend.
However the heat is only coming from the hot pipe side.
So this might result in some breakage for some woods that don't want to be bent.
With this method, the concept is very similar.
The bend at the curve part is now supported by the iron; but I can only support one side instead of two.
I need the other hand to hold the bindings.
The good part is the iron will also apply the heat to the back of the wood which greatly reduce the breakage.
Also by pulling the wood thru the compressing heat mold formed by the pipe and the iron, the wood acquires a gradual bend shape.
This will also reduce the amount of sanding required for the woods after bending.

After cutting the channel, I fit the binding and they fit perfectly.
I did some adjustment to the trimmer to cater for the arch back surface.
Thus the channel came out referenced the sides instead of the top.

Bending the bindings using a hot pipe and an iron. Works great!

After cutting the binding channel. Chips everywhere.

Test fitting the binding.

Installing the binding and purfling

20160305
The next step is to install the binding and purfling.
So I have to cut the channel first.
For this guitar the ornament is minimal, i.e. there are no side purfling or back purfling.
So I have a quite a bit of work there.
The only place that have purfling is at the front's perimeter.
The front purfling will serve to outline the guitar's shape which I think is very important.
This is especially so since the binding used is maple which is white and not very very good at outlining a shape.
The dark purfling line will enhance the contrast.

So I began to cut the channel.
I use the laminate trimmer this time round instead of the hand cutting the channels.
Well there are some areas which I will still need to cut by hand though.
Those areas near the heel which the router doesn't reach, I will have to cut by hand.
One of the main problem of using the standard router jig that comes with the trimmer is that reference used is based on the top instead of the sides.
I measure the top and back and they are offset from 90 degrees with the side by 2 degrees actually.
So I reference using the top or back I will be off by 2 degrees.
It's not really a big deal so in the end I didn't make the jig for routing this time round.
I test cut a channel to confirm the width and height.
After set-up I double check and began to route the channel.
It all went pretty well.
The channels are well cut and no accident :)

Test cut to check the binding fit.

Set up for the cutting of the binding rebate

Cutting the rebate.
The paper behind is to make the debris go down instead of flying all around.

Binding rebate nicely done.

Back set-up

Cleaning up the debris.

Checking the channel (back)

Checking the channel (front)

20160318
Next I cut the purfling channel.
The only difference I cut it by hand.
Using router will be too dangerous.
I use the gramil since my purfling cutter wasn't ready.
I change the blade but haven't go around to set it up properly
The gramil works fine for spruce top since you don't really need a lot of strength to cut the wood.
If for the back you will need the extra grip to pull or push the cutter.
That's where my self made cutter will excel as it has lots of area for gripping.

Anyway the channel was cut and level using both chisel and router plane.
The part where is unreacheable by the gramil, I have to score the cutting line by hand.
I did it using a French Curve and marking knife.
One part underneath the sound board wasn't supported well enough and so I glue in extra pieces to give it a solid support.
Similarly I cut the part on the back's heel region.

I test fit the purfling and the fit was good.
Next I began to glue in the purfling.
The purfling was held with tape only.
Next I began to bend the bindings.
All went well with no breakages.
I test fitted the bindings and so far so good.
However, I can't really think of good way of installing the binding.
My previous ways of installation was OK as I can't really see the gaps until the last part.
So I am thinking of a better process.
I saw an idea from Delcamp using an external support push the binding against the channel from outside.
It's really a neat idea but the only issue is I have to make them and materials might a be problem.
So now back to the pondering mode...

I also cut the end graft channel by hand.
First I score the line using marking knife and a square.
After that I saw the scored line using douzuki saw and chisel away the channel waste.
I have a piece of maple from a side cut off just nice for the channel.
After that I test fit and glue in the end graft.
I will need to plane it down though.

Checking the width of the purfling

Chisel the channel

Clean up with a router plane

Scoring the purfling channel using a gramil.

Scoring the neck region manually by using the French Curve rule as a guide and marking knife.

Chiselled away the waste. There is one hole underneath the top which needs to be patched.

Checking the binding fit

Glued in the patch.

Test fit the purfling

Applying glue to the channel

Installing the purfling. They are held by tape

Purfling done.

Marking the position reference for the binding

Bending the binding. (with 2 hands not 1 as shown)

All bent.

Purfling all nicely done.

Purfling at waist

Checking the binding fit and cutting the binding to size.

Marking the heel side.

Chiselled the channels.

Made a waist clamp for the bindings

Sawing the end graft

Chisel the end graft channel

End graft channel chiselled.

Test fit the end graft. A small section of binding is used to act as a stop block for the end graft.

End graft glued and taped down.

20160401
After the end graft was installed I have to plane and scrape it level.
I also use the file with safe edge to level the ends in line with the binding channel.
Now the binding channel is ready to take the binding but first the binding jig...

Plane the end graft level with the sides.

Scrape it level.

Using file (with safe edge) to file the end graft level with the binding channel.

20160412
Finally I installed the bindings.
I was experimenting with different ways of installing the binding.
Basically what I didn't like about the current way is that I can't really see the binding when I am installing it.
So if there are any gaps I won't be able to do anything about it.
So actually I modify one of my old solera to make into a binding jig of some sorts.
The idea is pretty similar to the various binding jig out there with pins at the side of the solera for ropes to tie the bindings in place.
I wanted to add a centre section so that I can do one side at a time.
However as I try out I discover the tension will come loose when the centre section shifted so I gave up the idea.
In the I revert to my original way of installing binding: tape first then rope.
The tape is able to hold it in place until I tie the entire 2 sides binding in place.

After I did the top binding, I leave it for the glue to dry while I worked on the fingerboard.
When the glue is more or less dried, I removed the rope and check.
So far so good - no gaps.
Then I came to work on the back section.

This time round I use duct tape which is stronger and is able to hold the binding in place better until I bring in the rope.
The spring back on the binding for the back is more.
For the back and side woods is more resistant to the strong tape so I have less worry when peeling off the tape.

Before I glue in the binding I spend some time cutting and trimming the bindings to length.
The ends are marked then sawn.
The fine trimming is done with a chisel.

Trimming the bindings to length

Applying glue onto the binding channel

Glue one side of binding using tape first.

Both side glued and taped

Finally tightening the binding with rope.

Front binding done. Looks good with no gaps.

Trimming the binding length.

Glue one side.

Both side done.

Tighten with rope.

20160417
After the ropes and tapes are remove I check the binding.
So far so good, no gaps seen.
Think taking the time to trim the length and glue the binding helps a lot.
After that I began to scrape the binding / purfling to fit the sides / tops

Scraping the bindings to fit the sides

Back view

Front view