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I cut my soundhole with a Dremmel circle cutter, the results were not satisfactory and by the time it was corrected and rounded, the soundhole was one-fourth inch too large. Can I put a one fourth inch circle of paduk or some other wood to make hole the same size? What effect would graft have on sound board performance? How is attaching graft accomplished?
Idiot in Denver

Hi Bob J.,
Hey don't feel bad...ask around I have done a lot worse! If I were you I would consider puting some binding around the hole. There are a few guys here who are very adept ( alot better than me)at it and I am sure will chime in and lend you a hand. The finished product looks realy cool. Or if it's only a 1/4 inch you could probably just leave it alone. Look back in the archives there were several threads on the effects of making the sound hole larger and smaller. Don't worry you're going to be just fine ( that's what my Doctor keeps telling me!).

_________________
Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

Hey Bob,

It's nice to hear I am not the only person on the forum from Denver. I teach guitar building classes at Red Rocks College in Lakewood. This Thursday (17) Edward Dick will be making a guest appearence in the class. You are welcome to come by and hear what he has to say and pick his brains a bit. Bring your work by so we can see what you have done.

Bob, like Dave said, binding the soundhole is certainly an option. I don't like rosettes on my guitars so I bind all the soundholes with the same wood the body is bound in. I think it give the guitar a very simple yet classy touch.
There's not much to it really. Just bend a piece of binding over a pipe to give you the correct radius. Tape it in the hole securly and "tack weld" it with thin CA. Then after that's dry, remove the tape and use the CA a bit more freely. Good luck. Paul

Thank you all for your helpful advice

Should Bob be warned to seal the endgrain of the soundhole before
gluing the binding with CA?

I know many here recommend sealing the channel when putting in
rosettes because some people have reported the CA turning a nasty
yellow under finish if it wicks into the endgrain. I think most are
using shellac to seal.

--Ryan

Ryan, good point that I forgot. If you don't seal the end grain there's a good chance that the CA will draw the color out of the binding into the endgrain. Once that happens, there's no getting it out because it's the whole depth of the top. So wick a little shellac around the edge before binding it.