Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Guys,
Wanted to know if any of you guys had ever made up your own checkerboard Binding(ala Rickenbacker,Kay etc) or have any ideas about how to do so.
I'd like to make it outa contrating wood pieces as opposed to plastic but it does seem as if it might be a PITA to do.
Any thoughts welcome!!

That looks like it would be tricky to make. These purflings patterns are simple glue up and cut jobs....but dealing with the tiny widths you have to cut is difficult on a regular table saw.
LMI sells a similar purfling...but with slanted cuts. Woodcraft sells 1/16" thick boards in maple & rosewood (other colors too) you could glue up and then cut to make the pattern. Rip 1/16" wide strips of each color. Then glue them together into a new board alternating light and dark woods. Then cross cut that board to make the purfling. You'd need a table saw fixture to handle cutting 1/16" wide strips and a fine blade though......or alot of patience and skill with a hand saw

I've done it for purfling, using 1/16" veneers. Like making herringbone, but you flip your sections a full 90º after sawing the first glue-up. This uses black veneer, maple, and mahogany:

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Howard, how are you putting those sides together? I'm guessing you glue and then bend. If that's the case, what glue are you using? If not, would you mind giving us the low-down?

How you manage to make things so incredibly over the top and still work out so sweet I dunno. Very cool.

_________________
Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

Well, thanks.

I glue, inlay purfling between woods, and then bend. I get some separation, but then I laminate to an inner side, which puts it all back together. I laminate with urea-formadehyde glue; just Weldwood Plastic Resin glue from the hardware store. The photos are of "Gallia," which was Richard Glick's personal guitar.

_________________
Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Dang, that's beautiful, Howard! Your work is amazing.

Ron

_________________
OLD MAN formerly (and formally) known as:

Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......