Making of the F holes and bindings

July 2020 – Cutting F holes in a top and then binding them is a time consuming job but when done properly very satisfying. Same for the body top and bottom bindings, although the curves are not as tight so a bit easier. All the bindings are hand made from sawn strips of ebony and glued in place with fish glue.

Sawing Ebony strips for binding guitar F holes and body
Cutting thin strips of ebony on the saw bench to be used for F holes and body binding. The strips are about 700mm long, 8mm wide and about 1.5mm thick.
Norfolk Pine guitar top - outline and F holes
Book matched Norfolk pine top glued together and now positioning the F holes for the correct bridge location. The bridge should be in between the pointy bits of the F hole.
Norfolk Pine guitar top - outline and routing the F holes with template.
Book matched norfolk pine guitar top – routing the F holes with template.
Norfolk Pine guitar top - outline and F holes
F holes routed using a 10mm bit for the larger cuts and a 6mm bit for the narrow sections… just squeezes through.
Ebony binding for F holes - flat top guitar
Ebony binding for F holes – bend with a hot soldering iron.
Ebony binding for F holes - flat top guitar
Gluing in the ebony binding and holding it in place with miscellaneous items.
Ebony binding for F holes - flat top guitar
F holes bound with ebony wood
Flat top guitar
Gluing on the top
Book matched guitar top from norfolk pine
Top glued on and routed. Next up routing the channels for the body binding.
Routing binding channel for back of guitar with special jig
Routing binding channel for back of guitar with special jig as no ball bearing bit available for 1.5 rebate cut
Ebony strips of wood binding bent to fit back of guitar
Ebony strips of wood binding bent to fit back of guitar
Gluing the ebony binding in place with bicycle inner tubes
Gluing the ebony binding in place with bicycle inner tubes under tension
Gluing the ebony binding for the top in place
Repeating the channel routing for the top, etc. Gluing the ebony binding for the top in place with bicycle inner tubes under tension
Book matched norfolk pine guitar top with kohekohe sides and ebony binding
Body complete bar sanding and finishing – book matched norfolk pine guitar top with kohekohe sides and ebony binding.

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