Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello, I know .... been a looooonnnnnggg tome since I've poked my head in over here!
One more semester of school & then maybe life will be a bit more normal... whatever normal is???

The wife bought me an Explorer body & neck for Christmas.
My plan is to laminate the top with some beautiful flamed maple veneer, and also add binding to the top edge.

My question is this:
Should I route for the binding before adding the laminate top?
I am worried about tearout on the laminate as it's only 1/40th" thick.
I am aware that if I route first I will need to account for the laminate thickness.
My other thought is, if I do indeed route first, then I will need to trim the laminate back to the route edge without disturbing the square-ness of that edge.

Thanks for your time. All suggestions are appreciated and will be carefully mulled over.

Happy Holidays,
Chris

_________________
Christopher C. Cordle
North Muskegon, MI

http://www.yardsaleunderwear.com
http://www.facebook.com/christopher.cordle

I think you just answered your own question. I'd rout after the laminate process. Just use a sharp bit. Usually there's a direction you need to rout in on an acoustic or similar shaped body to avoid tearout (Stewmac has instructions for free for that), but on an Explorer body I couldn't tell you. Maybe someone else here could.

_________________
Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

I don't have any advice to offer but I sure would like to say welcome back and it's good to see you are still involved in building!

_________________
jw ( o)===:::

Laminate first, then rout for binding. I you have a good bond in the laminates (don`t forget the seal coat of shellac), there really shouldn`t be much worry, and you won`t have to make the same cut twice (which could go awry on you).
Good Luck
Coe Franklin

_________________
Give me 50 cents worth of regular.
Check my oil too, if you don`t mind,,,

Thanks, tonight should be the night for routing the binding channel.
The laminate process went very smooth.

_________________
Christopher C. Cordle
North Muskegon, MI

http://www.yardsaleunderwear.com
http://www.facebook.com/christopher.cordle

Thanks, guess I must have had beginners luck! The laminate process went very smoothly and trouble-free. I trimmed it down flush with the sides using a flush-cut router bit. I am awaiting the binding from Stew Mac and will cut my binding channels after micing them up for exact dimensions.

_________________
Christopher C. Cordle
North Muskegon, MI

http://www.yardsaleunderwear.com
http://www.facebook.com/christopher.cordle