Binding/Heelcap

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Binding/Heelcap

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Vince

Posts: 141
Joined: Oct. 21 2012
From: Germany

Binding/Heelcap

For my next project I will do an Heel-cap in one pice (as an extension of the back)
Up to now I do it separately.
My question is: how do you notch the rebate in the cap and how do you install the binding ( start glueing from the heel or from the end craft)

And how it goes with a additional Purfling?

Thanks for replies, Vince!

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Vince
http://www.gitarrenbau-held.de/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 26 2014 11:05:36

Jim Kirby

Posts: 149
Joined: Jul. 14 2011
From: Newark, DE, USA

RE: Binding/Heelcap (in reply to Vince)

Sharp chisels! It's all just careful fitting. Go slow, work carefully. I do all mine that way, but I have to admit I haven't gotten one that clean yet. I usually have purfling lines on the back, too. If you are routing your binding channels, you have to be careful not to touch the heel with the router, too. (I've never done that

)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 26 2014 12:24:01

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Binding/Heelcap (in reply to Vince)

quote:

how do you install the binding ( start glueing from the heel or from the end craft)

And how it goes with a additional Purfling?

You can do both ways. I normally go from the end craft because I have to miter the purfling on the sides into the purfling on the end craft.
When doing purfling on the back, its basically the same just much more complicated, so my advice would be to do a guitar without purfling on the back first.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 26 2014 15:35:32

constructordeguitarras

Posts: 1675
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA

RE: Binding/Heelcap (in reply to Vince)

I ground a 1/4-inch chisel to the same angle as the ends of the binding, which helps some (though its edge is fragile). Also sharp knives. Yes, go slowly; this is the hardest part of making the guitar! Do dry fittings, taping the binding in place, and glue one side at a time.

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Ethan Deutsch
www.edluthier.com
www.facebook.com/ethandeutschguitars
www.youtube.com/marioamayaflamenco
I always have flamenco guitars available for sale.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 28 2014 0:05:11

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Binding/Heelcap (in reply to Vince)

quote:

this is the hardest part of making the guitar

Yes, I agree. Its about being well balanced, having sharp tools and be very meticulous.
Try making an inlayed soundport on a curved side. Thats also pretty complicated.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 28 2014 7:25:01

constructordeguitarras

Posts: 1675
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA

RE: Binding/Heelcap (in reply to Vince)

Okay, here's some more detail on how I do it.

First of all, the closer you make the points to the back center strip, the more acute the angles are going to be and the harder it is going to be to cut the mortises for the points, so I would recommend keeping them an eighth of an inch or so (depending on the widths of your heel and your center strip) from the center strip. I use a router to route the binding rabbets, and of necessity the routed rabbets stop about an inch and a half from the heel. I use a sharp pencil to draw on the back exactly where I want the rabbets to continue. I find that it looks better if they don't end up perpendicular to the center strip but are instead angled a little towards the heel. Then I draw the short lines from the outside of the heel to the points. I begin these slightly outside the sides of the guitar, so that the wide part of the point will be slightly thicker than the rest of the binding, after scraping and sanding. Now it is necessary to mark the sides where the binding rabbets will continue. I take a wide chisel and jig it on the existing routed rabbet, with a portion of the edge extending all the way to the heel, and press gently to mark the continuation of the rabbet. Then I deepen those lines with a sharp knife (or corner of a chisel), keeping the edges of the rabbets perpendicular to the sides. I also use a knife to begin cutting out the mortises where the points will be housed. Before completing the mortises, I use chisels to pare out the corners of the sides to create the rest of the rabbets. A wider chisel can be used up to the heel, but I find it useful to use a 2-mm chisel. Once at the heel I use a 1-mm chisel (which I bought from LMII a long time ago--I think it is no longer available, but one can be made by grinding a wider chisel). I switch between knife and chisel as necessary, sometimes prying chips up with the point of the knife. Sometimes I go in along the lines of the points with my specially ground 1/4" chisel to clean them up.

I bend the binding with the two back pieces taped together so that the side purflings are together supporting each other. After they have dried, I tape the binding in the rabbet at the waist and then tape in a few more places up to the heel. Then I mark with a pencil the locations of the beginning of the point and the end of the point. I cut near the marks with a dozuki saw and chisel the rest of the way. Then I insert the point in the mortise and tape all the way down to the end of the guitar (bottom) and mark for mitering to the end graft. Then I cut that end of the binding and do the same for the other half of the back binding. Then I glue one side, starting at the end graft and tape to clamp. Then I glue the other half, meeting the first half at the end graft. Of course, this has never happened to me

, but if there should be a small gap at the point, it can be filled in invisibly with a mixture of Super Glue and sawdust from the same wood as the binding. It is better to have a small gap there than for the binding to be too long, which would give gaps in other places.

If you are using purfling on the back edges, I think you can now figure out how to do it; it is pretty similar. I would install the purfling and binding on one side and then proceed to the other side.

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Ethan Deutsch
www.edluthier.com
www.facebook.com/ethandeutschguitars
www.youtube.com/marioamayaflamenco
I always have flamenco guitars available for sale.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 26 2014 18:46:27

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: Binding/Heelcap (in reply to Vince)

quote:

but if there should be a small gap at the point, it can be filled in invisibly with a mixture of Super Glue and sawdust from the same wood as the binding. It is better to have a small gap there than for the binding to be too long, which would give gaps in other places.

Remember to seal well with shellack before you do the above and your guitar has cypress back and sides and Indian rosewood bindings.
If not you can be almost garateed that the color from the rosewwod will bleed into the cypress endgrain.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Feb. 27 2014 7:58:44