Binding

This is how the box looks when It comes out of the mould and I’ve spent some time scraping and sanding down the sides to get rid of any glue that had dripped down the sides and to smooth out any small lumps and bumps that there might be.

This is especially important because the router cutting the binding channel uses a bearing that runs along the sides, so any imperfections in the side will show up on the bindings which doesn’t look good!

These are strips of walnut that will be used as binding. So that the walnut of the binding stands out against the walnut back and sides I have glued on a strip of black/ white/ black purfling to the underside of each length of binding. They are then sanded down to just over the thickness of the binding channel and bent in the bending machine.

Here I am gluing purfling onto a small ledge inside the binding ledge to further de mark the edge of the binding and body. I work little by little taping the purfling and binding down with pieces of masking tape all the way around.

I carry the line of the purlfing around the end fillet so that it joins up the top and back binding. It takes a fair amount of work to get the mitre joints on the purfling just right but it makes for a handsome instrument!

With the body bound, the bindings are scraped flush with the sides and the whole body sanded through the grades ready for finishing.