Official Luthiers Forum!

if one was to bind an F hole... or soundport, or some other shaped hole that wasn't cut with a circle cutter, how do you keep the edge of the wood straight to accept binding nicely. Lots of riffling and sanding?

I will probably try binding a non circular soundport this build.

Any tips or tricks would be most appreciated!
Alex

I don't know about sound ports, but for f-holes I prefer to use a violin maker's knife. It has to be sharp of course, and you do have to mind the grain direction, but at least there is no chance for rounding the edges over, which can be a problem with sanding sticks etc., and makes it difficult to get a straight surface to glue the binding to.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

If you're cutting the sound port after the sides are bent you can make a little template that clamps onto the body and then cut the port with a laminate trimmer. This will keep the edges of the cut nice and parallel for the binding material. Use a wide piece of binding material to compensate for the curvature of the body and trim the excess once fitted. (if you plan on doing more than one, make a better template. The one in this picture was only used once and wouldn't stand up to regular use. I was just trying different sized ports)

Thank you for your responses! I appreciate it. Will post finished pics someday