MIMF

Hello, all.

I have been trying hard to figure out how to bind an elliptical side port. I like the looks of them more than circles but they sure are a challenge. Here's my latest trial and I'd like to know what people think.
The binding is three layers of curly maple and one layer of black dyed veneer. This is the test side I used to work out laminated sides. I think this is repeatable and I would be satisfied for now. Would anyone like to see more detail on how I am doing this? I plan on doing one more trial before attempting it on my current builds.

Any feedback would be very welcome.

Thanks,

-Eric

I think it looks real good and would like to see how you do it. Bending curly maple in that small of a radius is not an easy task.

Barry Daniels wrote: ↑Sat May 20, 2023 1:55 pm I think it looks real good and would like to see how you do it. Bending curly maple in that small of a radius is not an easy task.

Thanks, Barry. I'll take a lot of photos when I do the next one.

-Eric

I like that a lot!

Looks great. I'm interested too. Thanks for sharing!-Bob

Looks great!

Yes, please share your process. I like the looks of it, Eric.

Thanks, guys. I'm working on the next trial and I'm taking pics. I hope to have something to share in a few days. I'm a little slow and get in a few hours a day, on a good day.

-Eric

Eric,
Really nice. your scarf joint is nearly imperceptible. And it's pretty near impossible to hide the joint of any kind on light color woods.

Just an idea, but if you were to make a butt joint instead, but have it be at 12 o'clock. Then cut your oval in two equal pieces, through the butt joint, (or cut into 4 pieces at 90 degrees). Then put a layer of your black dyed line where the cuts are to fill the kerf, you would have no scarf to see and it would look like you just made the binding fancier yet.

Whether that would make gluing it in easier or harder I don't know. Just an idea that jumped up looking at your test piece.

Randy Roberts wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 11:28 pm Eric,
Really nice. your scarf joint is nearly imperceptible. And it's pretty near impossible to hide the joint of any kind on light color woods.

Just an idea, but if you were to make a butt joint instead, but have it be at 12 o'clock. Then cut your oval in two equal pieces, through the butt joint, (or cut into 4 pieces at 90 degrees). Then put a layer of your black dyed line where the cuts are to fill the kerf, you would have no scarf to see and it would look like you just made the binding fancier yet.

Whether that would make gluing it in easier or harder I don't know. Just an idea that jumped up looking at your test piece.

That is such a good idea I went right to the shop to try it. Here's an early trial. I just cut some kerfs with a small saw that is just the right size for a piece of veneer. This uses the old design principle of, "If you can't hide a joint then accentuate it." I should have thought of that myself.

I think it might make gluing it easier. I wouldn't add the accents until after the binding was glued in place. That way the butt joint wouldn't have to be perfect, just close enough for a 0.5mm kerf to be cut through it. I just eyeballed the cuts for this trial, I would make them more precise in practice.

Thanks for the idea, I think I like it. I will try it again with my next trial with curly maple instead of this plain.

-Eric

By itself, this doesn't appeal as much to me - especially seeing as you did such a great job on the initial scarf. But if these accents are echoed elsewhere in the overall design of the guitar, I could see it being really effective.

Karl Wicklund wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 1:11 pm By itself, this doesn't appeal as much to me - especially seeing as you did such a great job on the initial scarf. But if these accents are echoed elsewhere in the overall design of the guitar, I could see it being really effective.

As I've been staring at it I am starting to think the same. The guitars I'm working on now don't have a similar design theme so I think I'll go with a scarf joint and keep it simple.

Thanks for the input, it's very helpful.

-Eric