In part one, I selected the material, milled it down and cut it to the the width (-) the binding material (x) 2. I cut my fret slots and am now almost ready to start getting the binding ready for glue up.


First I will cut a radius for the binding to wrap around at the bottom of the fret board. Then in the picture below I clamp the binding to hold it in place for bending.

Next using a variable temp heat gun, I slowly and carefully soften up the first corner and then bend it around the radius. I keep working with the heat and cooling till I get to a shape that I can at least press flush to the wood.

Do not heat too fast or too much or else the plastic will completely deform on you. The key is to not try to rush it. This one is almost ready.

Here I just about have a good fit and now it is time to get ready to glue it up.

So I get my supplies together. Tape, acrylic cement, clamps and a piece of wax paper.

The cement is Acetone based and dries extremely quickly once exposed to air. You need to work fast to get the binding to stick, so it is best to have everything you need right at hand. I like to pre-cut a bunch of tape strips and line them up on the edge of the wax paper I'm working on.

It is best to start at the bottom when dealing with a fret board with a radius. Perhaps at some point I'll do a separate post on 90 degree miter cuts with binding. I've glued up just the bottom, taped the binding in place and used a couple of small spring clamps to hold it in place. I apply the glue directly from the tube. Once I begin to head up the sides, it is best to be cautious around the fret slots to not squeeze glue into them.

Once I have the one side done, I like to use a couple of wood clamps to give the whole thing a bit of pressure to make sure the entire surface is pressed down. Don't clamp too hard, the acetone softens the plastic. You'll end up squeezing softened binding up between the joint.

Once the glue is dried, it is time to level the binding to the thickness of the fret board. I like to use a cabinet scraper. It works extremely fast and give a nice smooth cut. Do not power sand. The friction will just heat and melt the plastic.

Once you are done with gluing the fret board, adding and dressing the frets and the final finish work is done, the last touch is to make the binding look good. You have likely scraped and sanded leaving marks and dulling the gloss of the plastic. To remove the marks and return the sheen to the plastic, take a small square of paper towel and damp it with a very small amount of acetone. Rub the plastic with the paper towel taking care to not touch the rest of the neck as the acetone will eat right into any kind of finish.