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I am building a copy of the Gibson LG-2 3/4 size guitar. I am using the white plastic binding but need to make it both narrower and thinner. I have tried a cutting gauge to narrow it, but it is slow slow going.

Also, if I want to add a narrow b/w piece to the bottom of the binding (visible on the rim) can I somehow fasten it to the binding so I don't have an extra piece to deal with during installation?

Thanks

Use a scraper, it will cut through plastic like butter. To thickness it just cut some wood strips the size you want and tack them down on either side of your plastic binding. As soon as you touch the wood with your scraper you know you are at the thickness you want. be sure to make them just a touch bigger so you can scrape them down flush after they are installed.

As far as the b/w/b strips go, get the the plastic ones and use acetone to weld them to the bottom of the binding. After they are glued they will be part of the binding and will bend just as easily.

Here is a quick drawing I did of a down and dirty jig you can make to glue plastic bindings. Or you can buy one, but I usually just throw something like this together out of scraps and when I am done I just pitch it in the trash because it will get gunky from the melting plastic.

You don't have to wait long to have the acetone bond the plastic together. It usually takes me about 5 minutes to do one strip. Just lay it on a flat surface to sit for a while to be fully bonded. The whole process is pretty quick.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Bob

Thanks Bob - just what I needed

I saw the gluing jig on the S-M site and couldn't quite figure out how they squeezed the 2 pieces together - your solution is brilliant.

Ed

Hi Ed,
What kind of plastic is it? I cut PVC on my tablesaw with a fine tooth blade and a thin board placed between the blade and fence to hold the strip down. It goes pretty quick.
The Lg 3/4 size are neat little guitars. I've built them as double strung tenor instruments. The next one I finish will be a 10 string (5 pairs)