The Buttercaster Project

[Buckocaster51]

The binding fits nicely in the channel. It should, I measured twice and cut once. All you have to do is load up the channel with glue and put the binding in place.

and hold it all in place with lots of that $1/roll masking tape. Hey, it looks like we are back to that flat spot. I bet if Tele Customs didn't have a flat spot, they wouldn't be nearly as popular. I bet that is what it is...

We work out way down both sides towards "the hard part."

This is one of the hard parts. Straight plastic isn't really meant to go around sharp corners. Could use heat I guess. Flexing it back and forth, being careful not to flex it enough to break it (wonder how I know that?) applying some glue and holding it all in place with lots of that $1/roll masking tape also works.

 

[0le FUZZY]

...Ah!! great yew made it threw this here part!

...That neck pocket area waz the tuff part fer me.

...Mark Jenny gave me sum green tape fer my last bindin job and it werkes purdy good.

...My first won I held the bindin on with umpitty-squat big rubber bands I got from Stew Mac.

...Wish I could find that same glue again.

Could use heat I guess. Flexing it back and forth

...I used a hair dryer and I waz usin 3/16" bindin HEE! HEE! It iss hard stuff tew dew. I form fitted all the binding on the body with the hair dryer before I taped and glued. It the waz molded purdy good.

...Great thread!!!!!!


0le FUZZY

 

[Buckocaster51]

Looks like I missed one.

This binding is very flexible and easy to "preform" to the curves of the cutaway.

Good thing I bought three rolls of tape.

Here's where I was when I stopped to write this up and post some pictures. When I'm done here I'll finish them up on that side and let them dry for the night. Tomorrow morning I'll take off the tape and go to the front.

What do my fingers look like about now?

Oh my. They are loaded up pretty good. And yes...that is blood. Didn't move quite fast enough and that finger got "stuck" to the guitar. Pulling it off left a little skin behind. Oh well...

Just found this picture of the Dollar General paint shelf. It only costs a dollar (get it?) but there sure aren't any colors there that I want to put on a guitar.

 

[Clive Hugh]

As as matter of interest, if anyone is planning on building a body, if you want a drill bit of a similar length and can't find one, I have done this several times for jobs at work (I am a fitter machinist), get a drill of the required size, either get someone to do it for you or put it in a 3 jaw chuck on a lathe with the butt end out, this is fairly soft.
You can either drill a hole up it about 1/2 inch long or turn it down about 1/32 to 1/16 a side. You now get a bit of bright mild steel round ( sometimes called free machining steel) and either drill or turn it to fit. You only want about .002" clearance so drill the hole first and turn the spigot to suit. This is because the drill size can vary slightly.
Then use a silver solder to braze it on. You need the grade with the highest silver content, a brand name we use is Easy-Flo.
Before you join them make sure you have flux inside the hole and after machining DO NOT TOUCH THE NICE SHINY SURFACE WITH YOUR FINGERS, it will cause the Easy-flow to not bind properly.
When you get the flux in heat both parts up till flux melts and then push together, not with your bare hands it's hot, then keeping the flame on the job deposit a small bead on the join and using the flame chase it round, add a bit more and do the same.
It makes it easier if you lay it in a it of angle iron to keep it straight.You will find it works it's way in with capillary action and viola, a good strong joint that you can drill accurately with.
I have done this to drill out a series of holes that were in line on a flail mower element that was 8 feet long and a 5/8 drill.
Brilliant post ,it has been fascinating and inspiring.
I see stewmac have templates, are they any good?
Clive

 

[refin]

Fascinating thread,thanks for sharing the pics and info....can't wait to see and hear the final products!

 

[Telenator]

Nice work! I just did some maple binding on a walnut guitar project and man does that super glue wick through the wood! Stuck my fingers down nice and tight a few times!

Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[sean79]

Are you using one of those sanding "erasers" to clean your sanding drums? They are supposed to extend the life of the drums' sleeves - Grizzly calls them "abrasive belt cleaners" - they're pretty neat.

Threads like this really make me want to tackle another teleproject, but I think my wife would kill me if I started one without finishing her house. Great stuff... can't wait to see them finished.

 

[daviddoubleu]

This thread is great. So detailed, with brilliant pics, thanks Buckocaster51.

 

[Buckocaster51]

I stayed up last night and glued the front binding in place. Today is a new day so let's take off the tape see what we have.

From here it doesn't look too bad.

But let's take a closer look.

Super glue is nasty stuff. It wicks everywhere. It even glues tape to the wood. It would be really hard to bind a finished body. Certainly would have to be a bit neater about things than I have been. My hat is off to everybody that has pulled that off.

So it is back to the workbench/radial arm saw and my friend the palm sander. 60 grit paper should get rid of excess binding and the cyanoacrylate glue that has wicked and oozed.

Here we are after he have gone over the top and back with 80 grit paper. It is starting to look like a righteous Tele© body.

 

[Buckocaster51]

A trip back to the Grizzly Oscillating Spindle Sander will clean up the sides. I'm beginning to really like that gizmo. It used to take hours to sand the neck pocket area and cutaway, and then I was never happy with the results. It cost more than $99 but I am beginning to think it was worth it.

I have a guitar body!

Now "all" I have to do is repeat the sanding process with 100, 150, and 220 grits papers and it will be ready for the application of some deadly chemicals through an aerosol process.

By the way Paul, if you would like to use this picture on the TDPRI calendar, I am sure that we can work something out.

Thanks again to everybody for the thoughts, advice, and warm fuzzies you have been giving me on this little endeavor. I appreciate it.

 

[Jelly]

Wow again, Buckocaster! I bow to your craftmanship, dedication, and thrift. I have a question - you didn't mention how you approach the joint where the two ends of the binding finally meet up after the "hard part." Do you just carefully trim the edges on the fly? Do you cut it at a bevel or cut it flat and just butt them up? Also, it seems the binding on the back side must be really darn close to where the bolt-on neck holes are drilled? Any issues there?

 

[Tom S]

Things are looking great! Congrats!

Btw, there are other options for the binding glue. There is a particular glue made for plastic binding that might be easier to use than the CA you used (I'm assuming you used thin CA?). I have some, but didn't use it on my last project because the binding was wood and I needed the wicking effect. Another option I think would work nicely is the gel form of super glue. I used it for my dots and side markers. It is MUCH easier to control!

Funny story (though not at the time) about using thin CA on the bindings...
When I was gluing mine, I found that the thin CA is SO thin it will run right down the side of the body if you overdo it. But it's hard to see exactly how much you are applying. I kept wiping it off with a paper towel whenever I saw it run. I had the body on a plastic mat and was rotating it as I went. Well, I must have missed a run, becuase when I went to rotate the body at one point, it wouldn't move. The CA had run under the body, and it was glued to the plastic!

I ended up having to basically pry it off the plastic mat, and a thin layer of the veneer I was using was permanently bonded to the mat. I actually had to sand it off! That stuff is evil.

 

[reddogbass]

That CA glue is just too nasty, and not very forgiving...at least for me. I use the Weld-On #16 (like pictured in Ole Fuzzy's post) for the plastic binding to wood. Makes easy work of it. I don't know where it's available locally. I got it from Stew-Mac.

Tap Plastics also has glue that is very similar and works well. It's called Bond 634.

To make my job easier I cut out an identical shaped form from MDF and used a heat gun to form the binding. Made gluing a snap!

Nice job Buckocaster!

 

[Buckocaster51]

Before I bought the LIFETIME SUPPLY of CA that I am using...I was using DUCO Household Cement. Great smelling stuff! I did a half a dozen or so accoustics with it. Seemed to work okay.

I think that everybody that has used cyanoacrylates has some sort of horror story. (One little "gag" I like to pull is to give my 9th grade students an assignment that might require some glueing...and then maybe, just maybe, drop the hint that they might want to use CA. There's more to education then what you learn in a book.)

Clive Hugh asked about Stew-Mac templates. Don't know about them. I got mine from Ron Kirn. They seem to be pretty good. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.

Jelly asked about the binding interfering with the neck attachment bolts. Not a problem. Plenty of room to spare.

He also asked about the place where the binding meets underneath the neck...I think the operative word is underneath the neck. It is so out of the way... I cut the first end to the correct length the bend the other one around to meet it with a little overlap. Then with a razor knife I try to cut through both pieces. If you pull that off you can get a nearly invisible joint. I rarely pull it off. But it is under the neck. I think that is an old finish carpenter's trick. (Every wonder why Finland has so many carpenters and why they are nearly all old?)

Reddog...that is a good idea about using the MDF (or .pdf) and heat gun to form the binding around. Already ahve the MDF in the form of the template. I have the black & white checkered purfling and binding coming up for the Martycaster. When I did my gold sparkle Buckocaster I was using pipe clamps, c-clamps, strapping tape...anything I could get my hands on. Preforming seems like it would be an improvement. I might give it a try. If I do, I will take some pictures.

Thanks again everybody. Doing and sharing is a lot of fun.

 

[reddogbass]

Bucko-

It took me a while to figure out what worked best for me in using the form. To give the impression (if I did) that I just strapped the binding to the form and heated it, and then it took that shape would be wrong.

What worked best was to heat, and form by hand to the aproximate shape. Once I was close, I then strapped it to the form and applied a little heat all around, allowing it to relax at the bends even more.

When it come time to apply the binding to the body, it was a cinch. The real benefit of it being pre-formed is that you don't have to apply mush pressure in the tight curves, or hold it as long before using tape. Tape is probably not necessary even, but what the heck- a little extra precaution doesn't hurt much.

 

[Buckocaster51]

10-4 Reddog

 

[Buckocaster51]

Well kids, the Old Buckocaster is in trouble...

If you have been following this thread you know that the "Buttercaster Project" is actually THREE guitars...the Buttercaster, the as of yet unnamed orange caster (maybe Capricaster) and the Martycaster which I hope will be visually similar to Fender's Marty Stuart Stratosphere Blue w/black & white checkerboard purfling.

So today I started work on the binding of the Martycaster. The back was a piece of cake. Unlike the Marty Stuart Fender, the Martycaster will only have the checkerboard on the front. The back just gets a single black piece of plastic. Just like the Buttercaster, except black. Same size. Same cutter. No sweat.

But the top is another story.

The binding purfling is made up of a stack of a piece of binding and the purfling. That will give me the black & white checks in the middle with a solid black line on both the outside and inside. The two pieces measure about "46" on the old dial-calipers.

So at some point I need to make a cut 0.146" in width. (That will be the width of the "shallow" ledge on the cut. The deeper part, on the outside needs to be the width of the outside piece of binding. The whole mess looks something like an upside-down "L" if you can visualize tht.)

My Grizzly cutters have changeable pilot bearings held in place by a little machine screw.

The big bearing...the one I have used for the binding so far on this project(s) gives me a cut that is about 0.124" deep.

The bearing the next size down gives a cut of 0.191" more or less.

There you have it. The big bearing is too small, and the small bearing is too big. (Think about that one.)

What's a simple Buckocaster to do?

When I cut the channel for my gold sparkle Buckocaster I "shimmed out" the smaller bearing with thin pieces of vinyl tape that I wrapped around the bearing. Not real eloquent, but it sort of worked - until the bearing heated up, the glue on the tape melted and fell off. Then I had a real mess. Fixed it up with Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty and covered it with paint. I know it's there but you can't see it. But I would rather not go through that again - if you know what I mean.

I'm thinking about talking a friendly machinist into turning a shim for me but that seems sort of whacky. Maybe I'll have to break down and spend some more $$$ - after all, it is only dirty paper.

Do you kids have any ideas?

 

[mojocasterman]

Man, how I love these threads, and how I deplore my total lack of abilities to even come close to *thinking* about maybe, one day, considering the chance that I may be so bold as to remotely entertain the faraway thought of handling such an unrealistic - for me - guitar buildin' endeavor

Great job, thanks so much for the pics and posts!

 

[0le FUZZY]

...I noe yew ain't payin me noe nevermind on iss but fi waz yew I'd place the vinyl tape in a strip jes unner the slot yew are routing and allow the bearing tew ride on it roun the body. It mite take a few layers tew make it thick enuff!!


0.F.

 

[Tedecaster]

Sounds like your binding is around .050" & you have a .045" discrepancy, pretty close. Do you have a spare piece of binding to glue to the body where the bearing would ride and then remove it? Basically the same idea as Fuzzy's just using a piece of binding. It would get you in the ballpark. There used to be laminate routers that had an adjustable guide wheel & bracket that clamped to the side of the router and held the wheel under the cutter (you used a regular, bearing-less bit) Someone probably still makes them. Or maybe you can find a specialty bit with the right cut. Keep those posts coming!