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Main Objective:
Complete the process of cutting the binding and purfling channels in the
body, final fitting of the binding on the back and gluing of both the binding
and purfling materials.
Step Twenty Two - Grooving the top & back and gluing the binding &
purfling.
The “purfling” (thin black and white strips) and binding (thicker black or
white strip) of the soundbox is another critical step and you must take extra
care to get this step right. You need to feel comfortable with a small
laminate router with only half of the base maintaining stability on the
soundbox. Technique and a steady, safe hand will ensure a good cut. The
back tends to be more difficult because it has a slight curve that creates
different angles as you move around the soundbox.
Note:
Before cutting either the binding or the purfling on the guitar, cut a
test groove on a scrap piece of wood and check the fit on the material that
will go in the groove you cut.
1)
Install the 1” rabbeting bit in a small laminate router with the .88”
bearing to match the width and depth of the
binding.
Set the height
just slightly shallower that the height of the binding. It is preferable to
be a little shallow instead of too deep because you have
no
room for
sanding the wood flush to the binding. Go all the way around the body
and cut the groove.
2)
Using the same router bit setup, cut the groove all the way around on
the back of the guitar.
3)
Because the back is slightly curved, it is necessary to further trim the
groove by hand, to ensure equal depth all the way around the back.
Notice that at the top and bottom and even sometimes at the waist of
the back, the depth of cut is less than other areas cut with the router.
4)
Being very careful, scrape or chisel an equal depth and feather in
these areas by sanding or using smaller bearings (.86”/.84”) for the
router bit. We recommend dry fitting the binding on the back to
ensure there will be an even thickness of binding after it is scraped.
Note:
Before moving to the next step, determine how many pieces of
“purfling” you will use. There are six individual pieces, 3 black & 3 white.
Use as many or as few pieces of the binding as you wish. We recommend
that you use a contrasting piece of “purfling” next to the binding.
