Binding headstock

[A.Taylor]

Been lurking on the forum for a while. Reading a lot of the older post and learning a lot. This is my first build and it's been going great. Building an f style from scratch. i have had a few problems but have been able to work them out with the help of the forum. But one thing that I have not found in binding a headstock that is cut on an angle. The binding seems also to be at an angle but I have no idea how to do it. Many thanks for any light that you could shine on this matter--thanks A.Taylor

[fscotte]

I'm not sure what you are referring to when you say "angle". Are you talking about the angle of the top of the headstock, or the mitered joints of the binding?


I shape and bind the peghead veneer prior to gluing to the headstock. Before gluing the veneer, I shape the headstock to nearly the same shape as the veneer. I use pins to make sure the veneer goes in the exact location each and every time I check for "fit". After the veneer is glued, I have a very minor amount of wood that needs shaved from the headstock to match the veneer. Sometimes I do shave away a small amount of binding in order to make it flush.

This is an A model but the idea is the same. I use little pins to hold it in place as the binding is heated. Glue it later.

[MinkBrookRambler]

Andrew Mowry wrote a great article about binding an F-5 in the Spring 2013 issue of American Lutherie. It's very detailed, well illustrated, and answers many questions I hadn't thought of.

http://www.luth.org/back_issue/al113-116/al113.html

[bernabe]

I havent read the article and cant unless you purchase, which would be more helpful than what i could explain Im sure. However, you can cut the headstock with the fingerboard part of the neck perfectly flat buy creating a jig. This way youre angles will be correct. the binding can be done before [per fscotte] or after gluing the overly however this can be done two different ways [or more]. Particularly with the end of the headstock, you can either bind with .90 and and have the angle match the overall HS angle by angling the binding and having the binding thinner than .90 on the headstock or angle the veneer and the bottom of the binding to create the "lean" or matching angle. You should also angle the edge of the overlay prior to gluing so that the nut edge is perpendicular to the back side of the nut. Your miters on the sides of the hS will also have to be perpendicular to the fingerboard surface.

[A.Taylor]

Thanks for the help I'll give it a try when I get that far

[HoGo]

By far the easiest way to do clean binding job on mandolin headstock is do it before the overlay is glued to headstock, The close second, IMO, is cutting overlay minus binding then glue it to slightly oversized headstock. The second gives you firm bottom to press your binding against while the first gives you freedom for doing perfect miters easily and you can always clamp the overlay to table cowered with wax paper for gluing pieces of binding. Just make sure to drill for locating pins before you shape the headstock so you know exactly where the overlay will be after gluing. Also count that in some places the binding will be reduced at the top after shaping the headstock (especially on the top of the headstock). I prefer headstock 3/32 or less to minimize this effect of the angled cut.
On my first build I tried to cut binding rabbet after the (ebony) overlay was glued on the headstock and headstock cut to shape and it was helluva lot of work to do. And with the angle at which the edges of headstock are cut you cannot simply userouter setup and if you use the angled jigs you will get rabbet that has angle greater than 90° in the corner making binding seat flush to wood even harder.