Official Luthiers Forum!

Cut the binding and purfling channels this week on my OM build. The back went better than I expected for my first try. The top wasn't too bad either but it appears I have on goof in the upper bout on the treble side of where the neck will mount. I guess I tilted the body and the bit cut the purfling channel too wide for about an inch. I've installed the binding/purfling on the back but I haven't yet on the top.

So how would you approach repairing this? Here are a couple of pictures showing the damage. I don't have the purfling pushed up perfectly tight in either pic.....but you get the idea. I do have a piece of scrap I could use as filler but I'm not sure how to cut it for near perfect match with the odd shaped miscut area. I guess I could trim the miscut area into a square shape that could be matched.....but I fear the fix may be more prominent than what I have now. The gap seems a little much to fill with sawdust and glue.

Thanks for your help!!! I would like to get the binding completed this weekend if I can make this repair.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

hey daryl,
I would advise against trying to patch the area, and certainly wouldn't suggest filling a gap that large with glue and sawdust. I don't think you'd be happy with either of those repairs in the end.
If it were me I'd reroute the purfling channel entirely to include one or more new elements. Add a black/white on the inside (next to the top, not the binding... but either way would work, and that's entirely your choice), or maybe one on either side? Either way, that's really the only way I think you're going to get a satisfactory fix.
good luck,
Jordan

well, you can either re-route the top, and make the purfling wider,
or, what i would do is leave it be and be more careful next time.
tell people you meant to do it!
it does look kind of cool.
then again, i am a little twisted.

You're not the first to have this happen. I was doing the purfling channel on a guitar a couple of weeks ago & the bottom bearing in my laminate trimmer decided to spin, just as I was crossing the end grain at the bottom of the guitar. RRRRIIIP! It wouldn't have been so bad if it was the back, but discrepancies are pretty obvious on the top.
I changed the lam trimmer first, then changed the purfling pattern. 2 strips of 10 / 20 / 10, instead of the two 10 / 10 / 10s planned. No big deal... though frustrating. That lam trimmer has been bolted to my binding machine since I bought it & it's only done about 20 guitars!
The new Colt cleaned things up nicely & the bolder purfs look fine.
One or two BMB purflings will look great with the herringbone on your guitar.
First though, I'd like to figure out what went wrong the first time & try to correct it.

I don't know that the gap is, but you might try to file it with a small flat file. I normally run a file around my routed slots to make sure there are no bumps or dips, and if your sides are not too thin, you may be able to do this. Depends on how large the divot is.

Having done this myself in my early days , my best advice is to route the purfling cut a bid wider and drop in a W/B strip on both sides of the herringbone . This is an opportunity for design enhancement , it wasn't a mistake .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I would rout the channel larger to add a few more w/b purflings to your preference. BUT before, I would try to figure out what went wrong, so it doesn't happen again.

Chuck

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Depending on the depth of the booboo I would suggest a strip of black on each side of the herringbone which will make it look a little wider. A b/w strip on one side would look a little unbalanced to me, but them I am already somewhat unbalanced.

Fred

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Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

The B/W strip is a good suggestion. Only issue is that means I'm don't get to make any progress on my build over the 3 day, 4th of July weekend as I don't have B/W strip on-hand, have to order it (bummer).

Oh, well.......it took me about a year to get this far..........

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

I was in the same boat waiting for purfling to be delivered recently. I took the opportunity to make a bridge slotting jig and made 5 bridges while waiting.

Glenn

If you have any more matching binding then you could cut purfling strips of that and install it on the outside of the herringbone. Once the binding goes on it would look like a thick binding, the seam should all but disappear in a dark wood. You could also just cut a maple strip and put it in the same place, I think that would look fine too.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

What John Hall said....I made the same mistake on my first, on the back, and the guitar ended up with herringbone on the back as well as the front...folks loved it!

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Brad Tucker

What others said. I would too put 1 or 2 dark strips right next to the binding, OR 2 maple strips towards the soundboard with maple/ivoriod binding.

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Build log

I would ditch the herringbone entirely (additional B/Ws next to it will look like an afterthought) and re-rout for a different line purfling scheme such as similar to a style 28. Martin would do this and there are many guitars out there with extra purflings.

This way the repair will be undetectable.........even to other luthiers.

Keep on truckin` and don`t let it worry you.
You`ll know better the next time around.
Cheers,
Coe Franklin

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Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Yep. +1

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

FYI, I am using Ivaroid purfling. Any chance anyone has a picture of what a B/W line looks like between the herringbone and the purfling? I'm having a difficult time envisioning this. Might look simpler (less busy) to do as Burton suggested and have an extra thick purfling line instead of the B/W line competing with the herringbone pattern.

Well, I hung a chandelier in the dining room and installed a new oven (ours went out about 2 weeks ago and the order just came in yesterday) so my wife is happy I need to thing this out! <smile>

I'm ready to fret my fingerboard, but I was wanting to find a piece of granite to lay the fingerboard on while I fretted. Should have been out looking for that this morning as likely nothing will be open till Tuesday after the holiday.

Thanks for everyones suggestions!

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

How would an extra black stip on either side of the Herringbone look? The herringbone already has a black strip on each side so it would look like a double thickness of black on each side.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Don't feel bad. We have all been there done that.

You can re-route slightly larger and add purfling, but also you might see if you can actually sand the side more and re-route the normal channel again. If you have plenty of thickness on the side left and your good about blending the facets in then you may not have to add any extra purfling.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

Of course it's not required. I will be fretting on my drill press using a press caul from SM. I wanted to use a piece of granite to support the fingerboard along it's length while fretting. Then use it as a level guide while trying to straighten the warp out of the fingerboard caused by installing the frets. Of course I know there are other ways to approch this. This is what I had planned to try.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

I had wondered if that could be done. I'm don't think I'm that adventurous on my first but thanks, that's a good suggestion to keep in my back pocket.......... and for small gaps, probably a nice fix.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......