How To Make Your Own Guitar Binding From Scratch

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[@davidjennings9253]

Hi Chris - I do my bindings the same way but I use a 10 TPI skip tooth blade on my bandsaw and run a piece of of Birch Plywood through blade about 25mm from the edge then adjust my fence over the plywood trapping it. Using this method it gives support to the binding wood, gives you zero clearance and therefore zero tearout. You only need 0.5mm extra thickness to clean up resulting in way more binding per wood blank and less work sanding.

[@wendymiller1296]

Every day when I pull up youtube the first thing I do is look for you latest video. Great stuff!

[@stephen3073]

I have a couple tips: Instead of making individual binding strips, glue up a "log", with the purflings laminated on, and then saw individual, exactly matching strips off the log on the table saw with a thin-kerf blade. Use Gorilla glue to laminate the purflings to the binding log, because it's much more resistant to heat and moisture during bending process than yellow glue. This is great for doing short-run, highly customized bindings, while saving at least half the time it takes to make individual strips.

[@Suealan69]

I do this too, works really well for me.

[@rakentrail]

We had to take down a few trees to widen our driveway so our tenant's horse trailer would fit and I scored some nice lumber for bindings. (my neighbor dried them in his kiln for me) Holly, Aromatic Cedar, Dogwood and Magnolia. The Yellow Pines went to my neighbor! BTW the cedar makes nice kerfing and the box smells like grandma's house! LOL! I found a fine blade on my bandsaw helps with blowout. @12tpi

[@jayballauer8353]

A table saw with a glue line rip blade is faster without the need to sand to thickness. What you lose with the wider kerf of the saw blade you gain because of the inaccuracies and tear-out of the bandsaw. I use an Incra TS-LS positioning fence on a 3 hp Unisaw with a full-kerf blade to easily rip strips off the outside of the blade. Using the full-kerf blade makes the math easier when ripping to the outside of the blade...slightly less efficient in wood usage, but nothing horrible. This means you don't need to use a drum sander (I have a Performax 22/44) in order to do your own binding/purfling. Any irregularity in the strip can typically be fixed by a single pass with your regular sander. Keep the blade clean to prevent blade burns, especially on maple. Love, love, love the channel, Chris and Matt!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

I’ll have to try that out! I rarely use my table saw, so that’d give me an excuse to use it!

[@aboveallthingslove6349]

I used to use a 71/4" thin kerf blade on my table saw to make marquetry strips with a zero clearance insert, most of those blades have a tension ring and laser-cut segmenting to reduce chatter from rim expansion, 40 tooth worked well for me. Though I had Powermatic machines in my shop, I never had that beauty you have next to your door that can thickness to perfection... makes me want to start up again. Thanx for the content you two.

[@berthofsink1457]

Love your craftmanship as well as the fun put in the video's 🙂 All very helpful and entertaining!

[@raytristani]

Really great content guys! You’re killing it!

[@pevar]

Your videos are getting better and better. I’m always waiting for the next one to come out. And it’s nice to have Mat behind the camera. Great job.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

I’m glad you think so, we’re working hard on them. We have a bunch of new production gear coming in next week, so things are about to get a lot better!

[@kennywiebusch1586]

Thanks for this. I want your shop!

[@ADFinlayson]

Exactly how I make my binding, Love the drum sander. Here in the UK we seem to flutter between metric and imperial, I always refer to scale length and board thickness in inches, but seem to revert to metric for anything else. But I've just been converting my new garage into a new workshop and measured everything in mm yet when I go down to the timber yard, all CLS and sheet materials are measured in feet and inches. The struggle is real.

[@yellowcat1310]

use inches. fuck the globalists.

[@PastoAzul]

Great videos guys!

[@victorleger7]

As a Canadian that uses the metric system daily, I was curious as to how many people in the world use the metric system. Interestingly research shows 94%. Like you because of some tools & industry standards I sometime use inches as well. Started building guitars 2 years ago & really enjoying it. Presently building #5 & really appreciate your fine & clear explanation. Fortunately where I live in Canada I am surrounded by trees that can be used in guitar building. Such as beautiful Birdseye & curly maple. Thanks very much for sharing. Really appreciate your artistic approach to fine instruments. Vic

[@yellowcat1310]

the reason that any more than a few odd countries using the metric system is entirely because of UN treatys. We were supposed to bow the knee as well but are stubborn so they give us a mix so we have to have two sets of tools. they hope we'll get sick of the confusion and submit to also using metric. you would uses inches too but your government gave in to the globalists decades ago.

[@domsawyer8953]

This is great!!!

[@user-ch9jo8mi7m]

Are you ever going to show us how you do your arm bevels? Good Stuff!!!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

We now sell hand selected and resawn Tonewoods on our website! Each piece was found by Chris Alvarado, and almost always has a story to go along with it. Go check out the selection at www.driftwoodguitars.com/tonewood

[@troyclayton]

I'll be cutting my binding soon, I just have to decide what to use. I tend to poke fun at people who waffle about the color of things like clothes and walls, but I get all hung up over wood choices. I'll be using my table saw, and I haven't cut bindings before. I do a lot of small work, so I'm used to losing wood to my kerf. I don't have a lot of space, my table saw and thickness planer are portable and set up to use the same folding base, my dust collection a Fein vac. I take them out in the yard in nice weather. I just can't justify a bandsaw at this point, partly because there are a couple I can use if I ask- which I will do before I resaw any more body pieces. That wasn't fun on my table saw, then having to cut through the remaining 'tenons' by hand. It was a waste of wood and time, not to mention a bit sketchy feeling (I don't like ripping big stuff). But, I got it done as safely as possible. A friend shortened one of his fingers with a shaper this spring, accidents happens to so may skilled professionals and hobbyists alike. Good thing his instrument is a trombone. I always try to thinking about safety. Sorry for rambling and thanks for the video!

[@Guitar4C]

As Brien Rice mentioned below, I use a 7 1/4" blade on my portable table saw for brace wood and bindings/purfling. The smaller blade has a thinner kerf so there is a reduction in waste. Fortunately I have a thickness sander and use it just as Chris demonstrates. I haven't tried the laminating technique as mentioned by Stephen below.

[@troyclayton]

@@Guitar4C Yeah, I should have some 7.25" blades. I've resisted because all my sleds/jigs work with my 2 favorite 10" blades. That, or for my dado stack. I need to get over it. Thanks for the push! The smaller blade is also less of a kickback hazard as the teeth will be moving in a more downward direction when hitting the wood as opposed to a larger diameter blade set for the same height cut.

[@sigfreed11]

During day filming it might be worth trying to cut out some/most/all of that window light, so you aren’t backlit and then you have control of your video lighting no matter what the weather is. Though do whatever you want, I’m still going to watch 👍🏻

[@leighdicker]

By the way imperial 1inch equal 25.4mm in Australia for conversion purposes. Love the VID and valuable information. Will give it a go on our next guitar (guitar Number 2 that is) Cheers from Oz down under

[@dalgguitars]

Thank you for your videos.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

My pleasure!

[@lancemiller9866]

That's crazy 40$ bucks for that one piece of wood and you were able to make 8 bindings so 40$ worth at 5$each and still have a ton material left and the bindings are perfect.. I love your channel. Also love the sitka old 3000 year old wood guitar very cool I went to Brent Cole's website and read the story on finding that piece which was a great story

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Thanks for watching!

[@lancemiller9866]

@@DriftwoodGuitars I'm horrible with names but your camera/editor/ helper guy does an awesome job also I've been going back and watching your earlier videos trying to get caught up on all of them. And I'm happy to say all of your videos are great very informative and it shows how humble and awesome of a person you are so keep up the great work and I wanted to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule/life to make it possible for me and others to be able to see what goes into building a guitar 🎸 I'm anxious to see you build a ukulele in the future... Do you have a timeline on when you might be building a ukulele yet

[@18roselover]

I/ve never used curly maple, seems to me like you would get a lot of tearout using a rtr to true up the edges of the binding against the sides and then a lot of sanding . I hate sanding. I tend to use plain easy to plane sand and rout woods. for binding and purfling. How do you like your laguna fence. ? I have an older 20 in laguna, and thinking of upgrading the fence , TNX

[@PLINKER]

What do you have to do to these wood bindings to get them to bend tight corners?

[@HerrPapa]

Don't make fun of yourself by subtitleing wordings that might not sound perfectly thought out! You are not reading a script, and exactly that is what makes your videos authentic and true!

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Making light, and making fun are two different things. Matt likes to give me a good ribbing, so it’s all in good fun.

[@HerrPapa]

@@DriftwoodGuitars I see! If it is a thing between you both, yes, it's funny! wasn't aware of that :D

[@ollisarala]

A video on purflings, maybe? Thanks for making these :)

[@juliantaylor7663]

Do you use 1/4 sawn timber or can it be any type

[@alexanderketterer9992]

A follow up video on how you bend said binding (especially around an arm bevel) would be killer.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

I will be doing that in the 3000 year old guitar video series when we get to that point in the build.

[@manusamuelgamers1917]

Gostei estou acompanhando

[@eyeofamon]

I've been trying to figure out how to make checkerboard binding. This is maybe a start on that process.

[@KBorham]

What happens to those tiny checkerboard squares when they are bent will be interesting.

[@joelhines7449]

Stewmac has a vid on how to bend the checkerboard binding.

[@ranzeeyytv2261]

can you make a coconut shell binding?

[@davidsalais3850]

I like the coconut bindings on those Filipino guitars

[@rasbydorton1]

Very much enjoying your 3000 series. How would you go about putting a purfling on the bottom edge of the binding? I use stationary alligator clips to glue on a purfling and then scrape it down. Got any tips?

[@KBorham]

I made a 36" long fixture out of UHMW. I cut three pieces out of a 1/4" thick slab of UHMW: 1) for the base; about 3 " wide, 2) a piece 1 1/2" wide, using the factory edge for a fence and double sided taped it to the top side of base) and 3) the last long piece for a clamping edge. Use factory edges for the second and third pieces if the edges are clean (using the middle of the slab as the base). Place your dimensioned binding (with glue) against the straight edge, wide side down. Apply glue and lay your dimensioned purfling against the binding. Apply clamping force to the pair with the clamping edge and squeeze-clamp in place with clamps of your choice. TB III works better for adhering these as they will be heat bent later. Someone already mentioned gluing alternating BW sheets of laminate to the wide edge of a board (the binding material) and sawing that assembly into strips- the BWB will make up a complete "purfled" binding strip with BWB on the bottom of each strip.

[@rasbydorton1]

thanks

[@Shmuzey]

I have the bandsaw for the job, and I've made myself some walnut binding before, but I dont have a drum sander. Any suggestions on how to flatten/smooth the curly maple with normal handheld tools?

[@troyclayton]

If you have a drill press, you can make a mini thickness sander setup with a sanding drum and a fence. Feed stock against the rotation of the drum.

[@KBorham]

I have a "Luthier's Friend" drill press sanding drum and fence. Works pretty good if you're mindful of the setup and sanding process.

[@markgrimm3564]

do you ever glue the b/w/b on the bottom of it if so what glue are you using

[@KBorham]

We do, TB III as it is more resilient to the heat and water during the bending process...

[@zenkwong5769]

My method is make item of 6mmx25.4mm with band saw and drum sander, and then cut to 6mmx3mm with band saw, then make to 6mmx2mm with drum sander.

[@jrmakawoody]

Is that a flat-sawn or quarter-sawn board that you start out with? Does it make a difference?

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Good question, I should have addressed that in the episode. It’s flat sawn. It doesn’t matter how you cut it, it just makes the figure in the wood come out differently depending on if you cut in the flat or quarter direction. It can also affect how easy it bends. It just depends on the specific piece of wood.

[@luthiferbuilds]

As a Canadian im just like you... bilingual..... metric and imperal!

[@VAXHeadroom]

Might want to check the set on the teeth of the bandsaw blade, it could be that there are just a few teeth that have gotten bent outward and are scoring/chipping the wood. I would think a well-tuned blade shouldn't do that...

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Oh for sure! That blade is old as hell so I’m sure that’s the case

[@stephen3073]

I'm hypnotized by your drill press. I wonder if Powermatic machines are trying to take over the world. Does that flickering LED panel cause epileptic seizures?

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

No shit haha! Matt and I were just saying that we need to cover it with tape for the next vid

[@twohandsguitarcompany]

@@DriftwoodGuitars “Klaatu barada nikto” 😆

[@KBorham]

It flickers on video footage because of the camera's frame rate (an LED display is usually pulsed for heat reduction; the eye integrates the flicker, like a movie on film).

[@larscw74]

Are there wood types you would absolutely never use for binding?

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Can’t really think of any. I’d probably steer clear of using Cocobolo or Paduke with a Maple body. The colors would probably bleed

[@larscw74]

@@DriftwoodGuitars so using a burl type wood or a buckeye, wouldn't be a problem either for binding?

[@larscw74]

@@DriftwoodGuitars about the cocobolo or paduke, does that also bleed after stabilizing it in epoxy? or would that process make it unfit to use if as binding?

[@rodparker4514]

All I need is a bandsaw with custom re- saw fence and a drum sander with a vacuum system .

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Exactly hahaha

[@ranman58635]

That's a long time to have one wood.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

I should see a doctor

[@ranman58635]

@@DriftwoodGuitars , wood you please! And please have a nice day. So far, I've learned that it's way easier to build an electric guitar over an acoustic 🎶. I had to send mine in for a nut job cause I have no excuse to touch the nut or anyone's nut. Seriously though, I got it back and found dented frets.wall mount!

[@bobsegar1242]

nobody: the numbers on the drill press losing their mind.

[@angrygromit93]

"screams in Engineering", nah, any engineer worth his salt should be able to think in both units.

[@sigfreed11]

Some great engineering mistakes were because of unit swaps, but as an engineer myself; I agree! Being able to use metric and imperial is a good skill 👍🏻

[@zapa1pnt]

Yep, as an engineer, you need to be able to deal with designs, from all around the world, whether they are imperial, metric or something else, If there is "something else".

[@stellingbanjodude]

I used to work in a machine shop so I measure everything in .001 (thousandths)

[@SkyscraperGuitars]

I need to stop watching your videos! Now I want to get rid of my detla drum sander and get the PM. The controls and infeed/outfeed are so much nicer on that unit. I avoid mine for a lot of tasks because the bed height isn't a super smooth adjustment... I get about .005-.010" variation from side to side as well... Probably just need to tear it down and indicate it in during reassembly like I do with my cnc mill... I just hate blowing entire days on repairs... I'd rather be making parts.

[@DriftwoodGuitars]

Dude I had the same sander and had the same issues. The PM is a Rolls Royce. Dooo it! And use my affiliate link hahaha

[@SkyscraperGuitars]

@@DriftwoodGuitars HA. I'm now haunting the usual second hand sources to see if anyone out there is giving up on their 2244... I suspect that search will prove fruitless. I'll use your affiliate link when I finally give up the hunt and just buy one... You'll see a chunk of change in your affiliate account when I do it.

[@zapa1pnt]

Your pop up graphics and text is just annoying, because it isn't there long enough to see. It is just a flash, on the screen.

[@figueredoruley8050]

The best designs and plans are available on the woodglut website.