Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello , I've built 20 guitars, 19 of which have had bound fretboards, mostly to hide the gap on the fret ends. My new build, I have decided, is going to be unbound. I use ebony boards. What is the best method you guys have found to fill that little spaces? Black ca? Ebony dust mixed with glue?
Thanks in advance
Glen



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Shellac stick
Black CA
Black pore filler.
Epoxy.

Protect the top when using these.
Unless you neck is built off of the guitar.

Mike

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Mike Collins

I usually just dab a little Titebond in them with a toothpick and lightly sand the neck to get some dust in. I then poke that in with the same toothpick and do it again to make sure it is deep enough that it won't pop out later on. That is the only way I have ever done it and have never had a problem.

Cheers,
Bob

Black CA but if the gap is small clear CA seems to work fine

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Robert O'Brien demonstrates the glue and sanding dust method in a nice, brief video. As a matter of fact, on his youtube channel, he demonstrates practically every process of guitar building and tool use. You should bookmark his channel.
In this video, he's using CA glue, but you could use yellow glue, as previously mentioned:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7ANHge-shE

Ebony dust and CA

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guitarsbygiltzow.com

I've had success with the method Robbie O'Brien demonstrates, using both CA and LMI white glues. I imagine Titebond would work just as well. If using thin CA, I have to be careful that it doesn't stream down beneath the tang and leak out under the opposite end of the fret. I find it's better to do two or three light passes than one heavy application.

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George :-)

http://youtu.be/THnNsLXJlzo

enjoy!

Yuk!

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

That must be the crap that's boiling out when I heat them up with the soldering iron. It smells, too. Eww!!

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I was wondering what happened to my toothpaste !!!

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Sometimes you shouldn't open the tupperware in the back of the fridge, as well. Thanks for the link Hesh, but my quesedias aren't sitting so well all of a sudden.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Medium CA, nothing else. it will take on the black of its surroundings, with no need for ebony dust. dont use accelerator, or you risk it turning white if you overdo it

If not wanting a bound look, tend to just save the edges of the ebony board when trimming for width and bind with this after fret slots are cut... Completely disappears when board is profiled and smoothed and hides fret ends in bound way.

I know some are now laser cutting fret slots so they have no ends... Not for me that modern malarkey