Faux Binding techniques. Who's got em?

[sixstringsamurai]

I want to attempt a similar Scheme, like this.

Since it will be unbound I will have to fudge some Faux Binding.
I could do a natural, but I am leaning toward creme.

the final finish coats I will use tru oil, so will white tint up with application, or would I be better to use a creme, or an antique white?

 

[Cagey]

It's difficult to tell from that picture, but I tend to doubt that's a masked or "faux" binding. If I had to guess, I'd say it's real binding. The reason I'd guess that is due to the rough top. Without a smooth finish to mask against, it's probably nearly impossible to get a clean line. I'm betting they bound it for real, then masked the binding to finish the top.

Binding isn't as tough as you might think. I got excellent results on my first try. I'll just warn you ahead of time that it's time-consuming. But, if you've got flat top body and a router with the right bits, chances are you could properly bind the thing successfully yourself.

I'll warn you about another thing, though - if you screw up, it probably means adding the body to the next campfire to serve as fuel. It's unlikely you'll be able to recover from it. But, the scary part, really, is routing the channel for the binding to set into. Get that right, and everything's downhill from there, danger-wise.

 

[bagman67]

And if you're having a body made, have it made without hole for the jack - bore your own later.  Cagey's mishap on his green guitar when the follow-bearing on his router bit hit the jack bore is instructive.  Or at least it should be.

 

[Cagey]

Man, that was gut-wrenching! But, it didn't come out terribly bad in the end...

I mean, I wish it hadn't happened, but whaddaya gonna do? Feces occurs. It could have been avoided with a better idea of how thick that binding was going end up after being sandwiched like that, or if it would have been a single-layer binding that didn't outgrow the ledge cut for it. Then, there would have been no reason for that routing step to have ever taken place.

In any event, boring that jack hole wouldn't be too tough as long as there's no hole there to start with.

 

[sixstringsamurai]

Okay I realize I was probably a bit vague,
I realize the example is really bound. :laughing7:

I am gonna mask and hand lay a "binding strip" in paint on the 3/8 round edge.
My plan is to grain fill the back and sides, try to stain match the color of the canary neck, but leave the top open grained.

I guess what I need to figure out is will the tru oil tint slightly over the white, or should I use a off/antique white?

 

[Cagey]

Few finishes are "water clear", and I'm pretty sure Tru-Oil isn't one of them. I used creme binding on the body of this guitar, and it's creme binding on the neck...

The neck has no finish, but the body is covered in "clear" lacquer. See the difference in color? I don't have a "before" shot to show, but those two bindings were nearly identical at the start.

Now, to be fair, there are probably 12-14 coats of "clear" on the body. The more you apply, the more the inherent color shows up. It's not really clear, although a very thin coat would appear that way. I'm sure Tru-Oil is the same way. If you look in the can, it won't look like a can of water or alcohol. It'll look like weak tea. Same with grain filler. "Clear" or "Natural" will look like thin milk, which for all intents and purposes ends up clear because you don't put on numerous coats so it's thin enough that you don't see any occlusion. But, if you did...

I'm not sure if that answers your question, but maybe it moves you along.

 

[bagman67]

Tru-oil imparts a very, VERY faint amber color that darkens with additional coats, and with time.  If you want a water-white coating,  you'll probably want something water-based, or something you can apply in one or two thin coats.  But the Tru-oil color is not obtrusive, if you go that route.

 

[sixstringsamurai]

Awesome, I actually want to get it looking a little ambered up so that'll do! :headbang1:

Now I want to stain match the back,so it is close to the Color of the canary in the neck.

IIRC it is
Stain
Seal
Fill
Clear
right?

 

[Cagey]

No. It's:

Hope
Pray
Cuss
Bitch
Sand
Buff
Polish

 

[sixstringsamurai]

No. It's:

Hope
Pray
Cuss
Bitch
Sand
Buff
Polish

:laughing7:

 

[Cagey]

Actually, you got it right the first time. I was just having a bit of a reality show there  :laughing7:

 

[tylereot]

No. It's:

Hope
Pray
Cuss
Bitch
Sand
Buff
Polish

You forgot: Repeat.

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, well, there are several loops in there, each with subroutines of their own. But, the forum's message editor isn't really designed to display flow charts unless they're created offline and displayed as an image. One of these days, when I'm extra-bored, I'll write one up. Probably not a good idea to hold your breath while waiting, though  :icon_biggrin: