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CA and ebony dust to fix this?

Will tote bond or fish glue work?

I would start with CA and a clamp and curved caul. Possibly something in between to keep the caul from becoming part of the guitar. Is that the waist? If so you should be able to get it to squeeze in a little more. Then CA and ebony dust.

I tried clamping with a curved caul last night. This was actually an improvement from before. I just realized that the gap was about right for a strip of fiber, so I cracked some fiber in and CA'd it in place. I'll come back and fill any of the smaller gaps with CA dust later on. Looks much, much better already and I feel like the fiber Will add to the integrity of the joint more so than a straight fill.

I guess I would be more concerned about why it separated in the first place.

It appears that the laminated binding is coming apart and if that is the case where else will it come apart?

You didn't say what material the binding is but I am going to guess it is ebony since you are asking if that will fix it. I would suggest using the same material the binding is made from so you will be sure it will match.

But before I would think about repairing it I would find out what caused th separation in the first place. If it is a poor bond between the layers of binding it will most likely continue separating and you will end up chasing the crack. If that is the case then I would not fix it spot by spot but instead would pull the binding out and replace it. In the end it could save you a lot of headache and frustration.

Just my opinion and my own personal experience with little problems that turn into big ones when not repaired properly the first time.

I've only made five guitars so far, but I've had small areas with gaps like this in each of them. Fewer in number and smaller each time, but I have yet to achieve a prefect fit all the way around. With ebony, filling with CA and dust has resulted in repairs nearly invisible to the naked eye. FWIW, I've yet to have any gaps continue spreading or have new ones open after the fact.

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George :-)

That's a very large gap; so much so you might consider a redo of the binding... even if filled with something black the titebond will likely show once sanded and finished, and titebond or white glue under finish is never attractive. If you do fill make sure to clean out the gap as best you can.

Binding can be difficult and takes considerable experience to get right. My advice would be to not get frustrated, but instead understand that mistakes like this are inevitable and in fact must happen for you to really learn this craft. Take a deep breath, then another, then think of how it could have been avoided in the first place. Did you sand the sides flat and square before routing the channels? Is your routing jig up to snuff? Was the binding bent to the correct curve? Did you think titebond would fill gaps? Was there something in your process that allowed that kind of gap to occur without you being able to see it? Answering these types of questions truthfully will get you on the right path IMO.

It appears you used titebond to glue in? If that is so then I would try warming the binding with an iron and gently pulling it in with a clamp. You do want to be careful when doing that though. Nothing is worse then over clamping and hearing a pop!

Leave it clamped until cooled then clear any remaining titebond out and proceed as Todd said if a gap is still present.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I can echo George L's comment almost exactly. I've also just completed 5 guitars and have had some separation (getting better) on each one. I haven't had them spread either.

I hand bent the sides and bindings on first two, so part of my problem was simply getting them to mate well. On the last three, I've used a bender with blanket, and bindings and sides matched much better. I would probably go with the CA and dust fill myself on this repair.

I'm considering using CA for gluing on the bindings and purflings on my next guitar (after seal with shellac). Think my problem has been not getting the binding taped well all around the guitar as I've glued with the Titebond coupled with poor mating surfaces (you can't used tape to make up for a poor fit in the first place). With the CA approach, as I understand it, you tape securely first, then wick in the CA, rather than apply glue and tape as I've done with Titebond. Seems like this mightl allow me to inspect the fit before any glue is applied.

In any case, good luck with your repair.