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I want to bind my fret board and possibly my headstock and wondered about binding thickness. Is it common practice to use the same dimensional binding that is used to bind the body or is it scaled down? I'm trying to understand it visually. I'm using .14 x .25 binding on the body and I think it might be a bit thick for the finger board. Your input is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Mark

Mark-
I don't like to make FB binding too thick- the fret ends over the binding are not supported by a tang, so that is the main thing I keep in mind.
For me, something in the 1.5 mm range (.060" ?) works for 'stealth' FB binding (same as FB wood), - 2mm if I'm adding a fine contrasting line inside the binding.

Cheers
John

Thanks John I appreciate the input.

Mark: John's point about the thin binding is important for fret support. But you can put on a much wider and complex purfling if you care to. Just glue your purfling to the board,extend the fret cuts through the purfling and then glue on your thin binding. I think bound boards are classy. I hate filling the ends of fret cuts and have the finish chip down the road.I generally bind boards with ebony ,no purfling.On ebony,dark rosewood etc it's hard to tell try are bound except there is no finish chipping.
Tom

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