Milling the edge of my telecaster for binding
 

To give my Telecaster a binding, I do not only have to mill all around and against the cutter direction,
but also at the thin expiring two tips of the body to the neck. (= body-neck transition)

What should I note there so that nothing breaks out at both thin tips?

Have you researched a service that can do it for you. I wouldn't attempt if myself, and I have extensive experience with routers and wood working. If I were building anew guitar no problem. Modifying a factory Fender, a entire different story.

Ed

Ed, I don´t modify a guitar, I´m building one and have just finished the epoxy filling of the surface.
It is my first electric guitar but I have done two acoustic builds before, one 12-string with a cutaway and one 8-string baritone sunburst.
I´m just a bit curious concerning the thin expiring two tips of the neckpocket...

Move router very slowly as you approach the points. Or, you could use a protective filler block in the neck pocket so you can rout beyond the points. The protective block will need to extend the same curve that forms the points.

The binding will also hide small chip-outs.

Thanks for your kind help!
I will have a look into my scrap wood to find a protective filler block...or make one.

You do realize you now have to post a picture of your sunburst baritone?

Haha, here you are:
http://viento.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-3/p908518791-3.jpg

Router until you get within 1/8" of the edges. Then complete the cuts with a razor saw (by hand). I've done it a few times; not too complicated.

Typically bindings are installed before any type of pore filling. Cutting the binding channel and installing before you cut the neck pocket is one way to make this easier. Otherwise its just a matter of controlling your tools.

...routing...
 

I´ve made the plunge and routed the body.
I enlarged the baseplate of the Makita with a larger acrylic glass plate to have more security. (see pic)
Then I made a protective wood block for the neck pocket.(other pic)
I tested the celluloid stripe and acetone on a scrap piece. It works as it should. (pic) I will do that this afternoon and hope it sticks all over.
What I dont know by now is how long the curing will take.
A test pic of the body with loose binding strip - just to see if it´s ok.

http://viento.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3489488852-3.jpg

http://viento.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3489488854-3.jpg

http://viento.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3489488851-3.jpg

http://viento.zenfolio.com/img/s/v-10/p3489488850-3.jpg

I would let binding glued with acetone sit for several days before scraping. I usually use CA glue so I don't have to wait, but I've used acetone in the past.

When I noticed that my testpiece of the celluloid stripe and acetone had cured very soon,
I did the binding and gave the curing about an hour and took off all the adhesive tapes.
Everything was ok as I had thought.
Then I squeezed a filler into a few spots, waited another half an hour to dry and scraped and sanded all flush.
Now the body has just been painted with a layer of epoxy to cover any sanding traces.
I hope overnight it will have hardened to sand it smoothly.
Maybe CA glue would be somewhat easier but today I couldn´t get some (=sunday!)
Next time I´ll try that.:up: