cutting a neck binding channel

[LawrenceH]

Hi all,

I am currently defretting a 'practice' neck which oldslapper was kind enough to send for the cost of postage in preparation for having a go on my aerodyne jazz. All is going well so far, I've got the frets out, the nut off, the maple veneer in and the board sanded smooth with a 9.5" radius block (re-radiused from flatter, be 'interesting' to see how this plays!). Next I'll try epoxying it.
But.
For the aerodyne just to complicate things I quite fancy adding cream binding to match that on the body. I have a Dremel but no proper router, and looking at the various binding router bits on Stewmac, cutting accurate binding channels on an already shaped neck looks far from straightforward and would involve a high outlay on tools that I don't really want to make right now.

So, would a purfling cutter and chisel be able to do this to a decent standard without a year's (and 50 necks' worth) of practice? I could have a try on the practice neck but obviously don't want to if it'd be a total waste of time. Alternatively, any of the BC luthiers fancy PM-ing me a quote for doing this? I know having a fretted neck bound is an expensive job with multiple stages but I'm hoping that since I'd just want the channel cut on an already defretted neck it might be more affordable.

Thanks!

[daz]

Speaking purely as an amatuer DIY person. Unless you are sure of yourself with a chisel, I would be very aprehensive about wielding one anywhere near an Aerodyne that I owned.

[essexbasscat]

I'd be interested to hear this topic explored, as it's something I'd like to do as well, once I know how.

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1328175707' post='1522910']
Speaking purely as an amatuer DIY person. Unless you are sure of yourself with a chisel, I would be very aprehensive about wielding one anywhere near an Aerodyne that I owned.
[/quote]
I feel the same, except if I understand correctly the purfling cutter does most of the critical cutting and the chisel will (hopefully) follow the line. Still, I think it has potential to go rather catastrophically wrong.

[quote name='essexbasscat' timestamp='1328189354' post='1523273']
I'd be interested to hear this topic explored, as it's something I'd like to do as well, once I know how.
[/quote]

Looks much simpler starting with a neck blank, then you can either use a narrower fingerboard and have the depth as the channel, or if you want it deeper you can route with a couple of nice straight edges as guides. Best way I can think to do it with a shaped neck requires clamping it into a jig/sled to maintain a constant angle and provide a guide edge for a router bit plus space to work against. But if anyone has better suggestions or if the purfling cutter is something that can give good results for a careful novice then I'd love to know.

[brensabre79]

+1 LawrenceH. I think this is best done with a flat blank before the radius shaping begins, then the binding gets shaped with the rest of the board.

[henry norton]

[quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1328141654' post='1522713']
Hi all,

I am currently defretting a 'practice' neck which oldslapper was kind enough to send for the cost of postage in preparation for having a go on my aerodyne jazz. All is going well so far, I've got the frets out, the nut off, the maple veneer in and the board sanded smooth with a 9.5" radius block (re-radiused from flatter, be 'interesting' to see how this plays!). Next I'll try epoxying it.
But.
For the aerodyne just to complicate things I quite fancy adding cream binding to match that on the body. I have a Dremel but no proper router, and looking at the various binding router bits on Stewmac, cutting accurate binding channels on an already shaped neck looks far from straightforward and would involve a high outlay on tools that I don't really want to make right now.

So, would a purfling cutter and chisel be able to do this to a decent standard without a year's (and 50 necks' worth) of practice? I could have a try on the practice neck but obviously don't want to if it'd be a total waste of time. Alternatively, any of the BC luthiers fancy PM-ing me a quote for doing this? I know having a fretted neck bound is an expensive job with multiple stages but I'm hoping that since I'd just want the channel cut on an already defretted neck it might be more affordable.

Thanks!
[/quote]Do you have a router????

[LawrenceH]

So, Dave of Firecreek guitars (user 'nugget') has a suitable jig and has offered to sort this out for me cheaper than I'd be able to set myself up for the job. I'll start a 'build diary' thread for anyone interested once this gets underway.

[bengreen49]

I personally wouldn't use a router on something like a guitar neck without a serious amount of jigging and testing beforehand. I was taught to put fine edging on using a scratchstock, which can be easily made from a bit of wood and and an old bit of HSS or tool steel (an old jig-saw blade). Very controllable. A quick google will give you loads of plans for making one.

Hope it helps.

[lettsguitars]

A router would definately do the job. One way to do it by double sided taping an mdf straight edge along your neck, wide enough to comfortably hold the router without any rocking, set the depth with a bearing guided cutter (any old size will do) and off you go. Make sure your binding is wider than the channel and scrape it flush after gluing. Theres a ton of ways to do most things and whatever you think will work will probably work if you have a practical and mechanical mind. The purfling cutter and chisel would work also (binding was around before routers dont you know). Dremels are rubbish for woodwork. Unstable and easy to slow down. Well, mine is anyway. Only ever gets used for polishing frets and the odd cut off for brass parts.
No disrespect to stewmac at all but most of their stuff is available at b&q under a different name. Stewmac make some awesome stuff.
The problem with doing this on a radiused board is the channel not being square. There are obviously specialised cutters for the job which i'm not sure would make the job any easier. Unless the board is flat.

Edited February 6, 2012 by lettsguitars