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I want to cut my own binding from some walnut i have. I have both quarted and flat sawn. The boards vary in size and thickness from 1/4 inch thick to 7/8th thick and 6 inches wide or wider. lenths are about 4 feet long. Some is plain and some has some curly figure. Can I just rip strips from the 1/4 inch pieces. Which is the proper wood to use quarted or flat sawn for this task. Thanks Guys

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

With walnut I don't think it matters whether you make flat or quarter sawn bindings -- walnut bends so nicely either way.

I'll bet the 1/4" thick walnut you have is flatsawn, which will make quartered bindings. I like the figure in quartered wood better.

yes you are right the 1/4 is flatsawn. Some of the thicker stock is quartered. I am looking for the best figure so i'll try he 1'4 inch stock. Thanks

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If you glue it to a piece of maple veneer before you rip it you've got your side lines too.

Alan thanks for the great tip. I would have never thought of that. Mike

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It's always best to use quartered stock for bindings, just like on sides. If you have the ability to cut it like that, then go with it that way.

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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.
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Flat sawn bindings are fine... As are flat sawn sides, for that matter. All that nice quilted maple/mahogany/sapele/etc... is flat sawn.

Mike,

May I recommend Titebond III (3) to glue the veneer to the face. It will survive the heat of bending; some glues will delaminate.

Also, use Saran Wrap covered, 3/4" MDF on both sides of the sandwich as clamping cauls, to distribute the clamping pressure evenly. Use lots of clamps. Crank it down just a bit tighter than typical clamping pressure.

Once the veneer gets wet with glue, it will want to curl. You can do a quick wipe with a damp cloth on the other (non-glue) face to even it out while you get it clamped. It would not hurt to do the same with the Walnut solid, which may also want to warp a bit. If you use more than one layer of veneer, you'll need to work quickly to make sure the glue doesn't start to dry before you clamp.

Flatsawn wood, sanded to about 3/16" to 7/32" thick is perfect for this. The bindings will then be quartersawn, and besides being predictably easier to bend, IMO the quartered face of most species look better (other than the obvious birdseye, quilted, etc. that shows up on the flatsawn face.) I think curly woods usually visually *pop* more on the quartered face too. You may want to make a couple of sets while you're processing these, and you can do some curly and some plain - to use against plain or figured sides as you feel will look best.

Once dry, joint one edge, the rip (resaw) binding strips about .090" to .095" thick or a bit thicker. Be sure to flip the board so the veneer(s) are faced up when you resaw the strips, so the veneers don't chip out. Sand to .080" thick, and you'll be ready to bind!

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

I don't have a problem with flat sawn sides or backs. I have seen some nice ones. I always wondered why people use quarted sawn woods for acoustic guitar bodies. Is it just my thinking that quatered wood is more prone to cracking because the week spot is the tight straight growth lines?

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I didn't think of this to now. If I glue on a maple veneer like Alan suggested will I have a problem with it coming undone when I bend it on a heat pipe? Whats the best glue to use? Veneer glue or hide glue? thanks

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Dennis covered that in his first sentence.

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Waddy

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Sound Clips of most of my guitars

If you can't cut these uniformly and straight on the bandsaw, use the table saw with a 7 1/2" Freud "Diablo" thin kerf blade. It takes only a 1/16" kerf. Use a zero clearance insert and do a few test cuts to get the fence set right. lower the blade enough so you can clamp a block of wood onto the side of the fence leaving just a tad extra space under it so your stock will fit through easily. Then turn on the saw and raise the blade until it just hits into the block a bit. Now you have the blade totally enclosed so you won't cut your fingers when ripping those thin strips. Stand to the side and feed slowly and evenly and grab the strips as they near being fully cut off so they don't fly back through the blade. If done carefully, they can be almost ready to use without sanding.

Grant

[QUOTE=WaddyT] Dennis covered that in his first sentence.
[/QUOTE]
I must be going blind.

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Guitars, guitars and more guitars.

To get final thickness and finish ready I do what Dennis does up to the sanding. Instaed I then run the .090" strips thrugh a mini " jointer" using my table mounted router, a 4 flute spiral bit and feather board to press the strip against the fence. Then move the fence incrementally closer to the bit and stop at 0.06o" or 0.040". Usually one pass for each side gets the thickness and the smooth finish. Then I tape them edge to edge with the veneers together for bending.

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Greg
http://garibaldiinstruments.com/

I thin them out with the Wagner Safe-T-Planer against a fence, give them a quick scrape, and bend. I've used plain ol' Titebond 1 for years, and have little problem with delaminiating, although I do bend them on a form, and not freehand. If they crinkle up a bit on the inside of the bend at the waist you can press the flat side against the flat top of the bending iron for a minute, and that will (mostly) get it back   

Here is what I've been bending up today: These are Brazilian rosewood with a side purfling made up of maple and Brazilian rosewood veneer. I made these first cutting and sanding the 2" X 30" X 3/16" slab of Rosewood. A thin .3mm maple veneer was glued to the bottom of the rosewood, then a prepared lay up (sliced from a thicker lay up and sanded to 1mm) of the Rosewood/maple "half" herringbone, followed by a final layer of .6mm Brazilian rosewood veneer. Final strips were sliced on a Proxxon table saw and come off the saw ready to work. The matching back purfling is next to the binding.