Now is the time to install the binding on the body. The general steps are;

• Starting at the centerline of the butt, tape the center of the binding on the body tightly
• Use a heat gun to soften the binding in areas with tighter radius or the opposite direction
• Make any fine tuning needed to close gaps and relieve strain
• Wick some acetone between the binding and body
• Apply more tape or surgical tubing to hold the binding in place
• Let it sit over night to set up

Next is to “glue” the binding on. I use acetone. I did some research and watched a few videos like this one and decided to use acetone. Acer NE dissolves the binding and makes goo, the goo sticks to wood and the acetone evaporates (at least that’s the plan).

I used a small syringe with a thin tip and squeezed some acetone in and then pulled the binding tight with a million pieces of tape. I used some rubber tubing around the trouble areas to give some extra holding power.

After letting it sit overnight to harden up, I removed the rubber tubing and made a giant ball of blue tape.

The binding came out pretty good! There are some gaps in conspicuous and inconspicuous locations, but over it looks cool as shit.

Now the binding needs to be scraped level with the body. I will use my card scraper and some fine grit sandpaper for this job. I’ll probably sand the top of the guitar at the same time.

I’ll put up another update when that is done.