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I have used figured maple binding meant for guitar on my uke. The radius at the waist was a bit small and cracked.  I tried to repair using maple wood dust and CA, but it still appears darker and noticeable.  Any one got a trick fix?

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

I've never had luck mixing dust with anything except wood that already has dark lines in it so it will blend in with the other dark lines.

For figured maple, the ideal solution would be to route off the binding and try again.

An easier but less-than-ideal solution would be to fill it as you have and color-match with some lacquer-soluble pigment (Behlens makes some good ones) and, with a very tiny paintbrush, try to blend it in. If it looks OK, finish the instrument as you normally wood; if not, sand it back off.

Not as good as re-binding, but maybe better than what you have.

I've found CA darkens wood dust a lot so I don't even try to use it in that sort of application with light colored woods. I've had better look using Titebond mixed with wood dust, but even it will darken things some. You might be better off using some maple-tinted wood filler. Really, it's kinda hard to make a recommendation without seeing the problem.

In my past experiences, I've had to deal with cracked wood binding, but I was always able to rejoin it where the crack line was so thin it just didn't show. If yours has a goodly sized chunk missing, you're probably better off just routing it off and doing it over. Unfun, but it'll look best in the end.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

A very nice repair Todd.

Louis

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- Louis Freilicher

Oh No! Not another learning experience!