Post #30 - Prepping for position markers

I've cleaned up the fingerboard binding.  I started with the palm sander (powered) to bring the binding close to flush, and then finished off with a scraper.  Then I had to clean up fret channels with an x-acto knife and a thin saw to remove the cement binding overflow.  

Next I prep for the dot position markers by penciling in alignment lines and gluing down the inlay pieces with white glue.  This will allow me to scribe the perimeter with an x-acto knife to outline the area that needs to be routed out.  I'll be using the D-45 type snowflake pattern on the fingerboard, and small diamonds on the bridge.  Below you see the pieces glued down and ready for scribing.  

I'll then remove the pieces with a bump of chisel and then route out the cavity for the inlay.

Post #29 - Biding the fingerboard.

I start out by scribing a line approximately the thickness of the bindings along the side and front edges which will be bound in ivoroid.  I then setup a fence which will allow me to route out the edges to accomodate the ivoroid binding.   A cautious approach would be to set the fence so that the first pass is just shy of the line, and then minor adjustments to the fence can be made subsequently until the line is gone. 

Here, I dry fit the fingerboard after routing.  To begin with, the neck width is wider than the fingerboard and will need to be filed down after fingerboard installation.

I cut the bindings and then miter the ends at 45° on the bench sander's spinning disk with the table set to 45°.  Below I dry fit the bindings to the fingerboard.

Here is a close up of the mitered ends.

I prepared for the tape up, by attaching strips of the tape to the bottom of the fingerboard.  I then glued and taped up the end, and then proceeding along a fist side, being careful to make sure the bindings were flush against the side and the bottom.  Here is shot of the fingerboard taped up and waiting to dry.

Post #28 - Open Dovetail 

A little of posting catch up.  Now that back and top bindings are complete, time to open up the dove tail, very carefully with the Dremel and a routing bit.  Even moving carefully, I still got a little chip out.  Below, I clamp the mold into the workbench before opening up the dove tail.

Here is the dovetail after careful removal.

Now comes one of the trickiest part...setting the neck.  Before I do that I dry fit the truss rod, and then dremel out the small channel for the truss rod.

Post #27 - Top bindings clean up.

Tape removed and soundbox back in the mold to hold the body while scraping flush the bindings.  Top came out pretty nice.

Post #26 - Top binding.

Routing for the top involves two stages, first routing for the binding, and then routing for the top purflings.  The bindings have greater depth of cut and is cut first as shown below.

The second route is for the top purflings. I'll be using b-i-i-b.  Routing the top is easier than the back since the top radius is very slight.   

After routing, I clean the cut with sandpaper, first sanding the top to draw the edge "fuzz" down toward the channel, being careful not to radius the edge.  Then  I run sandpaper along the channel to clean of the fuzz and smoothing out and rough areas. 

In preparing to cement in the purflings and bindings, I tack the purfling pieces together with a tiny amount of binding cement, and clamp together with clothespins.  This will make it easier to get the gluing up process started.

Here is a shot of the top glued and taped down. 24-hour waiting time before scraping and sanding flush...just enough time to peel all the binding cement off my fingers.

Post #25 - Back binding

The following series of shots were taken over a period of days.  Some of these steps overlap with the progression of the headstock binding, but I thought it made better sense to document the workflow process, rather than strictly posting the progress in time order.  As shown below, the first step is to set up the dremel with a routing bit and the binding attachment.

I put the soundbox back in the form for this step, and the clamped the form to the workbench so that the body is solidly held while I route around it.

Since the back has a slight arch, I made a first pass at the correct depth, but slightly shallow of the width.  I then made additional passes in areas that needed further routing.  The problem with the binding jig is that it sets flat on the back surface which is arched, and so for the upper bought area, particularly the upper shoulder is very challenging to route properly.  I found that in the finished binding, I ended up scraping more in the area because of the way the channel is routed.  I'll have to come up with a better solution for the next build. Anyway here is a close up of the channel.

Here is a shot dry fitting the back binding (I-B-I).  You can use a file to clean up the route.  For the waist you can use sandpaper, or fingernail emery board.

Here I dry fit the binding and mark for length.  I square the mark, and use a small saw to cut it shy of the mark.  I then take the piece to the bench drum sander (the rotating disk portion), and sand square and clean to the line.

In preparation for gluing, I set up the pieces of binding tape in advance.

Here is the back, glued up with the binding and taped down.  24 hour dry wait...

Here is a shot of the back after the tape is removed.  Time to flush the bindings to the back and side.  Lots of the glue squeeze out to clean up.

Here is a shot of the scraping process part way through.

And the finished back after scraping.

Post #24 - Scraped headstock binding

Had some time this morning to scrape down the headstock binding (after at least a 24 hour glue time).  Below you see the picture of the bindings/purflings glued up and taped down.

Here is the headstock after the tape is removed.  You can see the cement squeeze out.  The bindings will be flushed to the headstock veneer and the sides with a scraper.  The cement squeeze out will also be scraped off. 

And the finished headstock...that's more like it.

Post #23 - Binding headstock

Here is the guitar headstock.  I will be binding with I-B-I (similar to the binding that will be installed on the back).

I clamp it down and rout the binding with the Dremel with the binding attachment.  As always test with a crap piece of wood first to check depth of cut.  The corners are done carefully keeping one edge of the binding attachment flat with the headstock.

The binding will need to conform to a few sharp corners on the headstock.  Some builders miter the corners, but for this build, I'll be using a heat gun to soften the binding and conform its shape to to the binding edge.  I clamp the headstock and tape a section of the binding down.   With a heating gun, I work the corner with a wooden caul, being very careful not to melt the binding material.

Here is binding after some work with the heat gun and the caul.

Post #22b Update - End graft clean up.

Below in the end graft after the caul and tape have been removed. I trimmed the ends off with a small saw, and then scraped the end graft flush the the sides with my square scraper.  The second shot shows the end graft after scraped flush to the sides.  You can see I used painters tape to protect the top and back woods.

It is important to keep a good burr on the scraper.  Here's a good video on Youtube showing the sharpening technique.  You can just use a screwdriver shaft if you don't have a burnisher.

Post #22 - Soundbox enclosed; end graft installation

With the back installed, the soundbox is enclosed. I used the binding attachment and the dremel to cut the back flush to sides, moving more slowly and methodically this time.  As a result, no tearouts, which may be partially attributed to the rosewood being less likely to split compared to the top spuce wood.  Here is the soundbox, ready for the next steps.

I'm using ivoroid and black strips of binding for this build.  The end graft is also of ivoroid.  Below you can see the pencil lines for the end graft.  I use a straight edge and an exact-o knife to scribe along the pencil line for a clean edge.  I will excavate the wood with the dremel and the router attachment, set to a depth less than the end graft.  Below you see the soundbox lightly clamped to the workbench with cauls, being supported below.  They are just lightly clamped to hold them in place, not to support their weight.

Here is the where the end graft will be installed.  I will border the end graft with b-i-b (i=ivorioid).

Here is the channel excavated with the dremel.  The cavity is cleaned up with a chisel.

Since I only had b-i binding (the wide stuff), I cut it down in half to be installed with the end graft.   I set up opposing fences on the band saw and shot the b-i binding through.

Here are the pieces after being passed through the band saw.

Installed the pieces with cement.  Covered with tape and a caul, and "clamped" down with weights (nice to see my exercise equipment go to good use).  Waiting time - overnight to dry before clean up.