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Anybody have tips on for necking binding? This will be my first time using. I was thinking i would just narrow myfret board the same thickness as the wood binding, flatten and then glue the fret board to the neck blank. And of course nible the tang off thefret wire before installation. Any advice or how to's would be welcomed. Thanks

Be sure to over cut the depth of the fret slot. It's nice to not come up too shallow after you radius. It's a little bit of a PITA to do it once the binding is glued on. Also, go easy on the glue.

Good Luck

That's all there is to it. Make sure you have a knife or something that fits into the fret slots (small x-acto blades with the tip dulled work good) to clean the glue out of them before it dries.

Doing side purflings on the fingerboard is a little more tricky, because you have to make sure the bindings are perfectly level with the bottom of the board when you glue them, so you don't have to take more than a few thousandths off to flatten it before gluing to the neck.

Do you have a fret tang nipper tool yet? If not, you can make one from a cheap nibbling tool http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Go-METAL-CUTTING-29524/dp/B0001QNM7G/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1352167444&sr=8-4&keywords=nibbling+tool
Just grind a slot in the face of it right above the bitey part using a file or dremel cutoff wheel. Be careful not to make the slot too deep, or it'll twist the fretwire funky and bend it when you nip. I do some filing with a needle file after nipping to get the bottoms of the fret ends fully flat. It's a pain and takes a long time. I wonder if the StewMac tang nipper can somehow clip them fully flush to begin with.

I jam pieces of Teflon the thickness of the fret slot into the slots, it keeps the glue out. After you clean the glue out of some fret slots you'll want to do this too

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I was always afraid of making the fret slot deeper than they should be, because some have said it would affect the sound. I have yet made the distinction though.

You can deepen fret slots with binding in place, Stewmac sells special refret saw for this. The problem is the refret saw isn't all that easy to use and it will take a while to deepen fret slots.

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I like to route out the edge and leave a little ledge at the bottom. For a pictorial toot take a look at
http://dunwellguitar.com/BuildGuitar/BuildGuitar7.htm
and the second row of photos. This can also work nice with a contrasting binding as it shows a little strip of the FB color at the bottom.
Just another way of doing the job. Just FYI, I don't use that compound taper jig any more, it was more bother to use than to just do it by hand.

Alan D.

You can also clean the slots out with an 0.020" router bit in a dremel tool or other small router-type setup. I use the Precision Inlay Tool from Blues Creek which is a micro-die grinder with a router base.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I tape my bindings to the fretboard first, ensure they are flush to the bottom then use thin CA and sparingly wick the glue in between the tape. A light scrape on the bottom if any glue seeps through is all I need. As long as you're careful with the glue, you won't have any glue to clear out of the slots

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I narrow the fretboard and check the fit on the neck, then glue the binding to the fret board, tap the frets in, trim the frets and chamfer the edges and clean up the frets, then glue the assembly to the neck. I think it's easier to do the fretwork off the neck. And you don't risk hitting the body or head stock with the fret file

Thanks for the tips guys. Some points i hadn't thought of. I have them glued on one osage on a bocote fb and maple on a rosewood fb. Will post pics of my progress later.