Binding

The first step in setting the binding is routing a channel. I used the Dremel with the router base and attachment (shown earlier in this blog to do this. I took it real slow to make sure I didn't chip out any pieces. As you can see that tool is smooth.
Same thing with the back.
Remember what I said about chip out... well I goofed. I was simply moving too fast and took a small chunk out.

Glueing the piece back in with crazy glue. I saw this trick on youtube. Once I put the french polish on you wont even see this small crack. Plus most of the wood was nibbled away by the router after the glue dried.

I also routed a channel for the purfling, but I didn't get any good photos of that. However, if you click and zoom in on the photo showing the purfling (down about 4 photos) you can see that channel as well.
Steaming the curly maple binding. I just boiled some water...

... and poured it on. Notice my floor is a mess. My ShopVac broke and I had to go get another one.

I tied the maple to the guitar to pre-bend them.

I chose black on white purfling for to go between the binding and guitar for contrast (white maple, black purfling, white perfling dark back).
On the front I chose to go (WBWBW) with purfling that is B/W/B. Since the top is light colored. This is the same stuff I used for the rosette. Below, I'm starting to tape it in place.
One quarter done.


Below is the final side complete. The bottom of this photo has the tape removed. Once the rest of the glue dries I will need to scrap all this binding flush with the top and sides.
This process took way more time than I had anticipated.

Making the End Patch

Before I start putting the binding on there was one last thing to do – put the end patch on. This is the decorative piece that goes at the bottom of the guitar on the tail block. It separates the sides and just looks good. The first step was to route the channel for the plate. I did this with the dremel with the router base. It worked perfect. I then sanded it straight.

I found this awesome piece of birds-eye maple that I bought from the scrap bin at the hardwoods store back when I first purchased the wood for this guitar. I didn't have any plans for the scraps, but it just worked out that I found this piece in with them all. It really looks sharp. I cut it to thickness on the scroll saw and then sanded the sides down to match the angle on my belt sander.

Decided to put some black/white binding material in there too to make a better optical separation. There was a loto of sanding, fitting and re-sanding here.

Once glued in and dried I used an orbital sander to sand it all flush. Wow, this looks cool, I hope the rest of the binding turns out this good.

Another angle. I couldn't be happier with how great this looks.

Flush Trimming the Top and Bottom

Before I put the binding on I need to get the top and bottom flush with the sides. As you can see below there is overlap on both. Bottom:

Top:
I was so excited to use my new router (xmas gift from my family – thanks Mom and Creig!). What a great tool this thing is smooth and doesn't have the initial kick that other routers give.

Smooth as can be... No chip-out, just perfect. One thing to note for anyone using a router on guitars. Always go from the top of the hill to the valley – (big bout to the waist, little bout towards the neck) this keeps the router from splitting the wood. At least that's what I've read.

Hope to start in on the binding soon!

Putting the Back On.

Final steps prior to closing up the box...

Signing the soundboard before closing – #1 Michael McCatty makingaguitar.blogspot.com

Finishing up the chiseling the braces so the back fit's to the sides. I also drew a line around the back and cut it semi flush to the sides so the back doesn't crack when I'm tying it down.

Applying the glue prior to setting the back down.

Clamped the tail block down first, then the heal- block. Then I used a bunch of paracord to tie the board down tight.

Another angle
Put more clamps on for good measure, Not sure if this was a good idea, (probably won't do it again, but I did have a shim-sheet under the guitar).
This is what it looked like after taking the strings off.

I need to flush trim the box tonight. May even start on the binding...

Before the Box is Closed

There are a few little items to finish up prior to closing up the top. One I completed last night. The inside back was sanded down and looked great when I installed the braces, but after sanding the braces down I noticed a lot of sanding marks on the back plate. I think it was because I was sanding against the grain with 220. So last night I sanded between the braces with 220 going with the grain. I think because this is such a hard wood it shows any little imperfection including fine sanding marks. So I went up to 320... after a while of sanding with that I decided to give scrapping a try... Bingo! That worked perfect – wish I had done that from the start.

This method makes the wood look awesome, even without any finish applied...

I probably will do a little more sanding on the braces before I close but I will tape the back plate before I do that this time.

Super Smooth. I also tried to scrape the inside sides but realized there isn't enough room for the scrapper. So I sanded that instead. you can't see the sides very well once this is closed so I don't think I'm going any further than 220 sanding with the grain. It looks great.

I plan to do the rest of the finish sanding on the inside tonight and may sign and close this thing up this weekend.

Kerfing for the Back

Finished up cutting the rest of the wood for the mortise (with a fretsaw). I also finished sanding the top of the sides and heel-block. The kerfing that will hold the back in place was next on the list.

One side all glued up.All those rings are just rubber-bands that spilled out of the clothespin holder.
Photo this morning of all the kerfing done!

So the next step is gluing the back in place. I will most likely do this later this week or weekend. I will need to do a last go-over sanding anything that is left on the inside and fixing any glue squeeze-out. I've included the photo of the back and neck just to show how far we've come on this project. It is really getting close.

Trimming the Sides

Now that the sides are glued in place each needs to be shaped to fit the contour of the back of the guitar. The tail-block is 4" and the heel block is more shallow. I drew parallel lines from the tail-block to a location about 2" behind the waist – from there the sides will angle down to the heel-block. You can see the lines drawn on the sides in the photo below (heel block).
Almost all of this wood removal was done with this handy small plane. However I did use a chisel from time to time.

Getting close, I only removed about 1/8" in the back but had to remove almost a whole inch in the front.

Just a little further...
Once I was very close to each block, I used that sanding board (shelf) that has 80 grit sandpaper spray-mounted to it. This was VERY noisy, almost like a turkey call or fingers on a chalkboard. This will create two flat planes. I will round them off slightly, later after the kerfing is glued on.

I used sidewalk chalk to see where the sandpaper was hitting and where I needed to sand more...

Here the sides are sanded flush with the tail-block.


The heel-block is sanded almost to completion, but I had to stop. It was getting late and I'm sure my wife would appreciate me stopping all the noise. I will finish this up tonight – not much further to go. This photo gives you a pretty good idea what the contour will be...


I decided to start to chisel out the mortise for the neck joint. This makes way less noise. I stopped short of the soundboard – I didn't want to accidentally puncture it with the chisel. I think I will probably cut the rest with a fret saw or maybe the dremel.Can't wait to get back on it tonight!