Binding a sound hole

[bisco1]

My current project requires a bound sound hole. It will be bound with .090" ABS, or Boltaron or similar material. What method do you use to affix the binding in the sound hole, both the adhesive and the means to hold it in place while the adhesive cures? Thanks!

[redir]

I use have used tape to clamp it and if it's wood then probably Titebond. If it's plastic then something like Duco Cement.

Another method commonly used is thumb tacks stuck into a board pushing the binding in place and clamping it till the glue dries.

[Shuksan]

I treat the sound hole binding as an inlay like the rosette. At the same time I make the rosette, I rout a channel for the binding that is the diameter of what the sound hole will be. The depth of the binding channel is just shy (~0.010") of going all the way through the top. I inlay the binding piece (Titebond) just the same as any part of the rosette, and after the glue is dry and the rosette is complete, I rout out the sound hole right up to the binding. Works great. I do it on all my guitars.

Not sure what the best glue is for ABD or Boltaron, but the idea would be the same.

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[nikpearson]

Hadn’t thought to do it that way. Does this mean when you thickness the top the binding is the full depth of the sound-hole thickness?

[redir]

Come to think of it I have an old Regal guitar from the 1920's and that must be the technique they used. You can see a very tine ledge of spruce under the sound hole binding. I guess though if you made it paper thin you could just round it off with sand paper and it would not be noticeable.

That's a great technique.

[printer2]

I used CA to put a wood binding inside a sound hole.

[Shuksan]

Originally Posted by redir

Come to think of it I have an old Regal guitar from the 1920's and that must be the technique they used. You can see a very tine ledge of spruce under the sound hole binding. I guess though if you made it paper thin you could just round it off with sand paper and it would not be noticeable.

That's a great technique.

That's exactly what I do. Leave a paper thin ledge that's rounded off so it's not visible from the outside. I like to leave the ledge there for just a bit of added support.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Shuksan

That's exactly what I do. Leave a paper thin ledge that's rounded off so it's not visible from the outside. I like to leave the ledge there for just a bit of added support.

YEs that would help support it and give it a bit more gluing area.

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Hey printer you shellac the end grain before using CA right?

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by Shuksan

I treat the sound hole binding as an inlay like the rosette. At the same time I make the rosette, I rout a channel for the binding that is the diameter of what the sound hole will be. The depth of the binding channel is just shy (~0.010") of going all the way through the top. I inlay the binding piece (Titebond) just the same as any part of the rosette, and after the glue is dry and the rosette is complete, I rout out the sound hole right up to the binding. Works great. I do it on all my guitars.

Very clever. Thanks for sharing your technique.

[Shuksan]

Originally Posted by redir

YEs that would help support it and give it a bit more gluing area.

A couple other details. For wood binding, I use binding of the same thickness (~0.080") as the binding that goes around the body. I pre-bend it into a circle on my hot pipe. I've used Gabon ebony, Macassar ebony, curly koa, bloodwood, cocobolo, walnut, and Indian rosewood. The smallest diameter I've done was 3 1/2". I've also used faux tortoise shell binding on the sound holes of a couple guitars and it worked nicely too.

This method also allows you get a bit fancy and do segmented sound hole binding like below. This binding alternates between longer pieces of Indian rosewood and short blocks of cocobolo.

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[printer2]

Originally Posted by redir

YEs that would help support it and give it a bit more gluing area.

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Hey printer you shellac the end grain before using CA right?

No I would not have. Hmmm, maybe I used Titebond? Darn memory.

[redir]

Originally Posted by printer2

No I would not have. Hmmm, maybe I used Titebond? Darn memory.

Yeah b/c that CA wicks really bad into end grain. OF course maybe thicker CA doesn't. I only asked jsut to clear it up for anyone who might read this. I ruined a master grade red spruce top by wicking in CA

[printer2]

Originally Posted by redir

Yeah b/c that CA wicks really bad into end grain. OF course maybe thicker CA doesn't. I only asked jsut to clear it up for anyone who might read this. I ruined a master grade red spruce top by wicking in CA

I was making this one for myself, I would not use CA on something I was building for someone else. At least not yet. It would have been thick CA if it was. I am still just making 'test' guitars to see how my building holds up over time. I am going to try a quickie guitar with as much CA as I can use to see how short of a time I would need to build with. But again that is just as a curiosity thing.

[redir]

Originally Posted by printer2

I was making this one for myself, I would not use CA on something I was building for someone else. At least not yet. It would have been thick CA if it was. I am still just making 'test' guitars to see how my building holds up over time. I am going to try a quickie guitar with as much CA as I can use to see how short of a time I would need to build with. But again that is just as a curiosity thing.

I had the same curiosity probably about ten years ago. I built a flamenco guitar almost entirely using CA. It's still 100% functional. I remember laughing at how easy it was to glue braces down. Spread out the glue, hold for 30 seconds, move on to the next one

[bisco1]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I used a variation of what Shuksan does. As it turns out, the binding that I am using is about .093" wide-- the same as the router bit that I use to rout saddle slots. I just went ahead and routed all the way through. this left a perfectly formed disc on the inside that served as "form" to hold the binding in the right position for gluing. It worked fine, and as a bonus, I have a disc plug that I will use when finishing the guitar to keep finish out of the body. Bill