Official Luthiers Forum!

1. Could anyone 'fill' me in (har har!) on the best way to fill gaps around binding? I have seen people use wood dust and CA glue, just wondering if that's really the only way.

2. Glue spots. They are icky. Is just sanding them out the best way to go about it? I was using LMI white glue, kinda got it all over heh.

3. Regarding the purfling, I want to avoid getting black wood dust everywhere when I sand around it. Would it be best to apply one coat of shellac on it all to kinda lock it down?

Thanks!

Got a picture Matt? You'll always see dust and CA. Slivers of the top or backwood glued in is the best way I've found. There's a few other ways of doing this. Sometimes routing it out and re-doing it is best, although with a first instrument, filling it and moving on to the next can be a good way to go.

1) Often gaps can be closed by the judicious application of heat (heat gun -- hair dryers aren't hot enough) and a smear of new glue. The binding AND the glue soften, press it where it belongs, tape/wrap/clamp, wait an hour, and voila! You can't stretch wood to fill in bridged areas but you can get it to flex enough to close gaps where the arch tends to cause problems.

2) De-glue-goo. Smear, wait, scrape, done.

3) Scraper is often the best tool. Chips are easier to deal with than sanding dust.

Hope that's helpful.

Rick

Matt-
If you don't already have one, get a cabinet scraper + burnisher -it's the thing to use to scrape down binding/purfling/rosettes without getting things looking 'dirty' with sanding dust.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32670&cat=1,310,41069
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32643&cat=1,310,41070
If you are feeling wealthy..
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=61448&cat=1,310
It's a super-useful tool and you will accumulate a bunch as you go along with building. You can also make scrapers from old industrial hacksaw blades, chunks of handsaw blade, etc....

Darrel's advice is good, IMO- just try to fill neatly and move on if it is a 1st/2nd/3rd build. (You will probably be the only person that notices the small mistakes.)
You do want to make sure that you have the glue residue cleaned away, or it can show through the finish clearly as a 'light' spot.

Cheers
John

Thanks guys, I forgot to mention that the gaps are due to the ledge being too wide in some areas. Its My Very First Guitar and I didn't do a great job doing the ledge, in part because I wasn't using the best tools for the job, and in part due to inexperience.

In any case, heating and re-gluing won't help. Using wood slivers is an interesting idea however, I hadn't thought of that.

Here is a picture of one example.



Notice the gap along the bottom of the purfling. There are two or three spots like that on both the front and back.


The glue spots aren't super noticeable at the moment, but I have a feeling they will spring to life once I put some finish on it. I guess I just have to keep sanding.

here is a thread with a similar question. I like Hesh's method, it seems to work well for me

viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=17551&hilit=+binding+gap+

Richard

Matt-
If you wipe the surface with a damp sponge (not dripping, but damp enough to change the wood color), the glue spots usually show up. Playing with the lighting sometimes makes spots more obvious.

There are some good hints in that other thread with Hesh's recommendations.

A couple of other possibilities-
Fiber purfling can sometimes be 'widened' a bit by burnishing it with a piece of wood/screwdriver handle or similar. Do this after the binding is on, and before you have the purfling completely levelled.
If you are going to use epoxy for pore filling, it will fill up those gaps- it will leave a dark line, but if the overlying finish is smooth it will not be very obvious.
For most of us, problems just like yours are in the 'been there;done that' category - join the club!

Cheers
John

Excellent. I'll try some of those methods in that other thread.

I really don't have any idea how I'm going to do pore filling yet. I thought I might try the pumice method on some scrap first (its walnut) and see how it turns out.

For glue spots, you'll definitely want to invest in De-Gloo Goo. The stuff is cheap and works wonders. Rick turned me on to it when took his Intermediate Building class last spring. I would imagine it's especially useful in cleaning up old, messy repairs. It definitely made my work look cleaner. I was really worried about glue smears (that I had missed) discoloring under finish. This alleviates that concern because the deglue goo will turn a glue smear a milky white, and soften it up, making for quick work with a razor blade/scraper.

Anyway, get a bottle.. You'll be glad you did. It's available at Woodsmith and/or Rockler I believe. I would imagine most craft and fabric stores would carry it too, but you might want to check. if nothing else, you can get it online in various places.

_________________
Jim Hansen