grain thru binding

[aljosha]

hy,

well, first of all
hello,
my names josh and I'm from Austria
I build mostly acoustic Instruments on a hobby base
been reading this forum regularily, and it's been quiet entertaining

now then,
I wanted to try grain thru binding for quiet some time now, but it never fit the design concepts
finally I have a project where I want it to be done, but I'm not exactly sure how to best do it
wood used is bubinga, so grainlines are pretty obvious

I know Trevor does it, haven't seen it anywhere else so far though
whats the best way of doin it?
my logic tells me that I would need to cut the sides with a side template in full body depth (+cutwidth) and then cut off the two binding strips
that would mean that when cutting off the binding the cut has to follow the contour of the template which is no straight cut...

an other option would be to bend the sides first, contour them an then cut the binding off, not sure how practically that would be...

I'd really love to know how it's done the easiest way, or done anyways

thanks in advance
best
josh

[vandenboom]

Can I ask -what is grain through binding?
Frank

[aljosha]

hy,

good point...
with grain through I mean that the binding is cut from the sides, so that it looks as if there was no binding, altough there is a purfling installed
on a acoustic without binding the top/back shows on the side, which is not exactly a pleasing look unless top and sides are very similar in color, e.g. Martins 15 series


best
josh

[nnickusa]

Like this? The bindings for this guitar are cut from the sides. The only real issue I have is that the back, being radiused, requires that the grain lines won't match in most instances if using a rip off the edge....

These are Black heart Sassafrass, and look pretty nice with the guitar finished...

[aljosha]

it's a bit hard to tell on the picture but I guess that's what I'm after
but Bubinga has a figure simmilar to cocobolo or such, so really obvious
and if the lines dont go through it defies the purpose of the whole thing
so cutting off straight binding is a no go...

the probably best idea, or rather the only one, I had so far ist to create a sidetemplate and then use a Router to rout it out
using a very thin bit (.5mm) one could rout it out oversized and then to exact size using guide bushings, thus getting the binding

but I'd rather not go that way if theres a easier option...
If its the only way, so be it, but apart from needing to buy the bushings and a bit,
or building something for my dremel base I never bent templatecut sides before...

cheers
josh

[Mark McLean]

Hi Josh
Welcome to the forum, and good question.
How are you bending your sides? If you do it in a Fox-style bending machine couldn't you slice the binding strip off the side when it is flat and then bend them together and aligned? I don't know - I have never tried - but I am doing it in my mind right now and it seems possible. But if you are bending by hand on a pipe (which is what I do) it would be hard to keep the bends exactly ligned up for continuity of the grain pattern.
cheers
Mark

[Allen]

When I've done it, I bent the sides and then sliced the binding strips off the sides on the bandsaw with a fine tooth blade.

[jellicorse]

I was just about to post saying I could imagine no other way to do it accurately than ripping binding strips from the pre-bent, pre-profiled sides when I noticed Allen's post, which I've just been thinking about.

Allen, if you I could ask: how did you manage to cut the strips to conform to the longitudinal back profile, which often has quite a bit of a taper?

[Allen]

Use a point fence rather than your conventional fence.

[jellicorse]

Oh, thanks!

[gpj1136]

For a one off guitar. You could cut the sides over sized in depth bend, and glue them to the head and tail blocks with the extra depth overhanging head and tail blocks on both top and back. Profile them and then use a hand held perfling cutter to cut the binding free at the proper binding width. Glue the top and back to the sides and then replace the binding with a perfect match of grain without loosing the thickness of a blade.

[gpj1136]

My question is how would you glue the top and back to the sides at the proper depth before replacing the binding.

[aljosha]

ok,

well thanks for all the replies

one thing that still is bugging me is that if done this way i have to use binding in the thickness of the sides after bending
I prefer my binding at 2mm thickness, my sides are about 1.5mm, some thinner, depending on shape and wood

oh my...

well I still have some time before I tackle this build so still some time to think

thanks
best
josh

[hepikohetaniwha]

I've also been thinking about this lately - thinking only, so my comments are only theoretical! But if you thickness the sides to 2mm, then cut the bindings off with a blade whose kerf matches the width of the purfling, then continue to thickness the sides down to 1.5mm, then you will only need to make some sort of registration mark on each side+binding set so that you can line them back up again. If you are freehand bending you will start at the waist usually, so maybe make a mark on the waist of each side and binding strip to match a mark on the waist of plantilla template you are working to.