Fingerboard binding

Today I decided it was time to work on the fingerboard binding. I was a bit reluctant to do this because I wanted to cut a curve on the bottom of the fingerboard, but was afraid that I would not be able to bend the bloodwood binding to match the curve. After a bit of fiddling around, several attempts at bending, and some re-shaping of the fingerboard bottom, I am happy to say I was able to get the binding installed.

I first had to figure out what shape I wanted. After I drew up a design I liked, I marked the board and rough cut it on the bandsaw. Then I used the sanding drum on my drill press to sand to the lines I drew. After this, I rigged up a piece of 1 1/4" metal pipe and a propane torch to act as a pipe bender. It worked fine, but if I am going to do any more of this kind of bending, I will need to make something a bit more permanent. I used several pieces of the bloodwood I had broken trying to make bindings and attempted to bend it to the shape I had cut. It took a lot of tries, but I finally got one bent pretty close to the shape I had cut. It wasn't perfect but close. I finally took that piece, traced it on the board and sanded the board to fit the piece of wood I had bent. I learned that it is much easier to shape the fingerboard to fit the bent wood than it is to bend a piece of wood to fit a pre-cut shape. Anyways, once that was done, I glued it to the fingerboard and mitered the ends. I then mitered and glued the straight pieces and taped it all up.

This might not sound like much progress, but it took me probably 3 hours to do this. The bending took a lot of time, trial and error. I have to say, it was pretty fun though! Now, if I can get this red stain off of my hands....... (note to self, get more latex gloves!)

This is the design I wanted. The lower arc is the sound hole location. The upper curve is what I cut out.

Here is my make-shift pipe bender. It worked but was very awkward to work with. I think I will make a real bender for the next time I need one.

Here is my bend after about 10 attempts. As you can see it is pretty close but not perfect. The pencil line is the actual shape of the binding that I ended up sanding the board to fit.

Here is the piece glued to the fingerboard. I was kind of wanting the right curve to have a bit more of a tight radius, but after 10 tried and 10 breaks, I went with a slightly more open radius.

The binding pieces mitered and held in place. It should look nice once it is finished and sanded. I am looking forward to fretting it all up and seeing how it looks. I still need to decide how I am going to work with the finishing. Bloodwood is very brittle and splintery. I don't think having unfinished bloodwood on the top will feel good for the player. I might lacquer the bloodwood and mask off the fingerboard. I guess once I get it all finish sanded I will make my final decision.

All the pieces glued and taped up.