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For wood binding, which is all I use, taking off the inside edge and making sure the binding closely fits the contours does the trick just fine. I like wide rubber bands, #107. Two tied together works well for guitars and single bands are good for smaller instruments like the ukes shown here that I bound yesterday.They available from Amazon if you can't find them at your local store. Titebond Original should work for all your needs. For multiple purflings, it's best to use a small brush and spread the glue just a little ahead of where you are working. Keep a rag and some water handy to get the dried, caked glue off your hands as you work.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

+1! I let my binding sit for about 1.5 hours and then check for anything that needs to be touched up. If you wait too long, you might as well start over.

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Wow Bob, that's some prolific uke bindery you've got going on! I feel accomplished if I bind an entire single body in one day

Beth, It may look impressive, but it's not really. It's just a matter of having the tools and a method. I've been doing this long enough that I've standardized some things and that makes the process easy. I make all my guitar bindings or uke bindings the same thickness, so it's easy to grab the correct cutter and cut the right ledges first pass. Same thing for the purflings. I know the right cutter to use for the various different purflings I normally use. I don't need to check to see if my bindings and purflings will fit anymore. They just will. As far as how much you get done in a day, well doing binding is mostly a matter of waiting for the glue to dry. Might as well do more instruments at the same time. It takes an hour or so for the Titebond to set up enough, so you might as well be binding another instrument. Ain't nothing hard about making instruments. Anyone with patience gets there, although quite a few builders like to add smoke and mirrors to make it look hard.

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“ The meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away” Pablo Picasso

Todd, how long do you leave your bands on with the fish glue....I just got some and wanted to try it on bindings next time.

What do you guys think of Mike Doolin's binding jig? Worth making? Unnecessary when you can just wrap around the guitar? What are your thoughts?

http://www.doolinguitars.com/articles/bindrope/

I really like this technique Todd, and I'm becoming a big fan of fish glue myself, with the exception of jointing spruce tops. Not having great success there, but everywhere else.
So tell me, where does one get these giant rubber bands that y'all are using?

Thanks,

Don

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I simply visited a bike repair shop and picked up couple of punctured inner tubes. Just cut them up into long 2cm~ wide strips and they work really good.

The problem I see with this jig is that you can only do one quarter of the guitar at a time and the rope is only holding the binding down in the channel. It is not assisting in holding in toward the sides. Seems to me like the binding could twist more easily and not sit fully flush in the channel.

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ELEVATE || Next Level Lutherie
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http://ensorguitars.com

Todd, how are you holding the fixture? Vacuum?

I need to read up on fish glue.

Todd, disregard my question. You could just tack a block to the back and mount in a vise.

Just placed an order for fish glue with Lee Valley. Lots of good info in the archives!

Todd - what size rubbers bands are you using in the picture ? Seems like rubber bands would be easier to handle than 50' of surgical tubing - I am not fond of the tubing - if the bands work out - I would sell my tubing as well.

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

I have some of these, although I haven't used them yet...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/40-INCH-RUBBER- ... 500wt_1315