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For the past 9 1/2 years I've used either TB1 or FG for bindings on all of my guitars. Apart from my first two, which were learning experiences, I've been very pleased with the results (no gaps, nice tight butt joints, etc.)

In the interest of saving a little time (being able to glue and scrape/level all bindings and purfs in one afternoon) I decided to finally give CA a try for this job. Since I had never used this method I tried it on a little parlor that I'm making for a friend's kid, not an instrument I'm selling.

Overall, I was pleased with the results...with one exception: When using TB1 or FG I've never had a problem getting near-invisible butt joints. However, with CA, even though things fit as well as you could want, looked perfect when dry, as soon as I wicked glue into the joint it became quite visible. I'm guessing that the glue is wicking into the end grain and darkening it.
Have other folks run into this problem, and if so, what is the solution-sizing the end grain with HHG?

It doesn't look THAT bad, I've seen a whole lot worse on a whole lot of other guitars but I really hate seeing that line on one of my instruments. I'm gonna leave it as is on this instrument but I've got a commission that I'm going to be binding this week and I'd like to get this figured out. I really like the speed but if there's no way around the visible joint then I guess it's not meant to be.

Seal the cut ends of the binding with shellac before you glue them. This will prevent the CA from wicking into the end grain. This is what's causing the darkening.

_________________
Jimmy Caldwell
http://www.caldwellguitars.com

+1 to what Jimmy just said. Shellac is your friend.

Thanks guys, not sure why I didn't think of that. After all, I have always sealed any rosette channel where I used CA and likewise sealed the binding/purf channels. Makes sense to seal the end grain, too. I guess I had just never really heard of it being a problem on hardwoods (apart from some light-colored woods like maple).

I have been getting nearly invisible but joints in maple bindings by gluing the but joint with LMI white glue.
The white glue dries sufficiently while I'm taping down the bindings... I can go straight to CA once everything is taped into place.
Works for me.

If you're feeling lazy, you can get similarly great results by sizing the ends with with glue before using CA. The bottom line is there are a lot of good ways to prevent CA from wicking up into the endgrain. Thicker CA can also help a bit, although they tend to appear semi-opaque when cured.