Official Luthiers Forum!

I've just cut my binding slots and would like some opinion as to whether I should carry the binding around the heel?  In the past, I have not bound the heel, but capped it with ebony.  

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Rich,

It's personal choice and design ethics really. I've done one "sort of" bound heel before an liked it:

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Dave, thats real nice.  Here's where I'm at.  Should I just carry the binding right around the heel?

_________________
A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Dave, also note the nice scratch my binding jig left on the back. If you have any tips how to fix that I'd appreciate it.

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Typically on Spanish Heel necks the binding is cut into the back/side and heal at an angle just short of connecting one side to the other

Rich,

Spanish heel is not my territory really. If I was going to bind that heel I'd probably have the side binding mitred in to the heel binding leaving the centre of the back/heel wood as you have it. It needs some might fine hand carving to get the channels clean and lined up though and slip ups would be hard to hide/deal with.

What binding rig are you using and why is it scratching so far in the middle? If it's a Fleishmann-Williams jig then you should be able to position the jig that holds the body at the correct height in relation to the binding-jig so that the paralellogram drops the cutting part of the router down and gives clearance.

If you mean how to fix the scratch, you are going to have to sand/scrape it down.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Dave, the screws holding the router to the Williams jig protruded a bit to much.  I replaced them with flatheads. Dumbo me! thanks for the suggestions. 

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A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Though it is done both ways, I favor the extension of the back over the heel rather than a separate cap. To me, this is one on the hallmarks of Spanish style construction. As to binding the heel, it's a lovely detail, but you may have to narrow its width if your heel is really in-curved. I seriously considering binding the heel on this one but considering the wide back inlay and the width of the purflings, I felt that it would look too crowded considering I wanted a small "cap". tion.