Tom P.'s eBay Project

[Cagey]

My finish skills are horrible, so maybe someone could chime in if this is a good idea or not, but if you sprayed a layer of clear on top of the white, would that make that line cleaner?

The way to get a clean line is to mask it off and shoot a layer of clear to seal the edges of the tape, then shoot your color. Remove the mask and start layering clear with level sanding steps between coats.

Or, just cut it for real binding and install that. You'll still have to do more clear coats, but you'll have a defined line.

Before you start layering the clear on is a good time to put a custom headstock decal on if you want to bury it in the finish for a professional-looking result that will wear much better.

 

[TomPerverteau]

Should I go for a solid black binding, or a fancier (although possibly too "busy") black/white/black binding? I want to use a smaller size on the headstock, and close to a Les Paul-size on the body.

 

[Cagey]

If it was me, I'd do the triple layer, but I'm foolish that way.

Have you done binding before so you know what to expect?

 

[TomPerverteau]

Wait! Wait! Not so fast! I got home from work and the stripe has really tightened up & straightened out a lot! It might just polish out to look pretty decent.

 

[TomPerverteau]

Cutting the ledge for the binding

The power tool ran into the nut shelf, so I'll have to use something else to complete it. Maybe the hand scraper for making binding ledges that StewMac sells, and/or a very sharp chisel.

Test-fitting the binding

The photo doesn't show the detail of the black/white/black triple layer binding very well, but it's gonna be fancy!

 

[Gilgamesh]

Bumping this so I can get the update notices.

Read this from front to back. Looking awesome, man! I'm also a sucker for stories like this. Looking forward to how this turns out.

[Nice choice on the BKP, by the way. :icon_thumright:]