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Julie—

The binding sand through you experienced may merely be the result of a messed up router jig, but there is another, more common cause that could be a contributing factor. If you put any side refinement off until after the binding is on, you run the risk that you will thin out the binding too much along with the side.

That's pretty a pretty good description of my experience. When I made my first Strat, I bought a digital caliper and a few other micro-measuring tools. I also found taking lots of pictures very helpful. Though I'm not taking nearly as many on this build as I have with my other guitars.


Good code to live by.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

Before routing for the binding, I sanded the sides from 80 to 180 grit, until they were pretty much done. The problem was I simply failed to check the depth of the rout before gluing on the binding. Knowing what sipo does to me, I was more focused on avoiding breathing the dust than double checking things. I've still got the neck to finish and the inevitable sipo dust is scaring me.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

According to the wood database (link posted here a few weeks ago) Utile (aka sipo) has

Allergies/Toxicity: Although severe reactions are quite uncommon, Utile has been reported to cause skin irritation. See the articles Wood Allergies and Toxicity and Wood Dust Safety for more information.

If you are reacting to it you may have other sensitivities. I won't lecture you on all the stuff you already know, but having just built a guitar out of cocobolo I'm pretty aware of suiting up before doing any work. The thing that is really bad for me is that I'm turning out to be really sensitive to CA glue and I use CA for everything. I keep thinking "one little drop without the respirator won't hurt" and then I'm hacking for three days.

I was thinking about CA possibly being another culprit but it's never bothered me in the past. I haven't used it extensively, though. When I glued on the top binding, I used PVA glue. It was a bit of a circus and I wasn't crazy about the end result. So when I glued the back binding I went with CA. After that set, I sanded the sides and had the worst reaction to date. I blamed it completely on sanding the sipo sides even though I wore a respirator the whole time. But for the CA, I had no protection. What baffled me was I had done another project with the same wood and didn't have any issues. But I didn't do as much hand sanding so I blamed everything on the hand sanding. Now I'm wondering if the real culprit was the CA.

Yesterday I was making rope stropped blocks using the sipo (already had that in the works before dreading using the wood) and had so many things going to protect myself from the dust - respirator, HEPA filter, gloves, HEPA vacuum - woodworking was no longer enjoyable. When working with cocobolo, I just wear a respirator and I'm fine. I've been thinking sipo is my demon wood. Whatever the case, next CA use will include a vapor respirator. I'm starting to miss the good old days of no PPE.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

If you don't want to redo the binding paint the side of the sand thru the color of the outer layer and it will be less noticeable (faux finishing 101). I make the binding a bit thicker, so even if it is not totally uniform in thickness the variation is less obvious. A single layer of binding without purfling looks O.K. on the back.

"I've still got the neck to finish and the inevitable sipo dust is scaring me."

Don't use it. Use African mahogany. Cheap, available, and nicer to work with.

Edit: going back through the thread I see you have most of the neck completed - suit up and carry on!

It used to be cheap and available, until I moved to Florida. There is one place about an hour from here that carries it but the prices are through the roof. An hour in the other direction is a place where the prices are reasonable but the selection is limited. That's where I picked up the sipo. I had never even heard of it before but I wanted something to use as edging for our kitchen counters. It worked out great there and I had no issues physically. That's why I'm beginning to think it's the CA that's the real problem.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

Things are moving along without incident, just slowly.

Checked the alignment with bridge in place


Then did the fretboard glue up


Chose abalone dots. They go well with the sound hole ring


Everything has been sealed with shellac (except under the fretboard and bridge). But I'm thinking I'll need to make a bridge from either cocobolo to match the fretboard or sipo to match the sides and back.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

I wouldn’t make a bridge out of sipo. That’s just me, but most bridges are made of denser woods. The mass and such matters (someone with more technical knowledge can shed light on that). I’m not sure about coco either....


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The build is looking very good btw. So much better than my first build wtg !


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FWIW, the sipo I have is pretty dense but I still have the same concerns as you. Same with cocobolo. Maybe I can lighten the IR bridge with some dye.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

I stripped the finish off the rosewood bridge and did some orange dye then a coat of shellac


Still not a perfect match but that may not be possible.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

It looks good to me. Coco is a lot like BRW, it will darken in time, so will the IRW bridge. I am not familiar with the side wood on this beauty.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I wasn't either until I ran into a deal on sipo - $4/bd ft. I threw two more planks into the Jeep cuz you never know. And then came the itch to build an acoustic.

It's not bad looking but kinda hard on tooling. I find I'm sharpening plane irons more with this stuff. Bending was initially a nightmare but this was my first try at side bending. It took me a while but once I learned not to soak it and be patient, bending wasn't so bad. Next time I'm going to give ammonia a try on the sipo. Ammonia worked so well on quilted maple I'm compelled to give it a shot on side bending.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

Well, here we are. Only the nut to make and bridge to set.


The nut won't be an issue but gluing that bridge will take some courage.

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Julie Moriarty
http://JulimorCreations.com

Looking good!
You may have already done it, but I try to locate that bridge with locating pins as I glue it to keep it in the right place:)
You’ll be happy with how it turns out and itching to start again


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