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So I just finished binding a cedar top in coco binding and purfling, and I've got two very tiny slits around the upper bout between the purfling and the top. They really are small, but I want the whole seam to appear as though it's "grown together" as my carpentry instructor used to say.
So with soft wood and fine contrasting lines surrounding it, how do you folks go about closing it up. I am planning on using zpoxy to seal and pop the grain, in case that help play into anyones's solutions.
Thanks,
Phil

I believe that Hesh recently posted a tutorial on this very subject. Check it out he explains the process very well, and has plenty of photos.

Al

I would cut end grain curls of the Cedar to fit, using a smalll finger plane. This is the only way to keep the color right on lighter woods. Any slury of wood dust and binder such as glue or epoxy will darken the dust and be more odvious than the gap it's self

[QUOTE=MichaelP] I would cut with the grain curls of the Cedar to fit, using a smalll finger plane. This is the only way to keep the color right on lighter woods. Any slury of wood dust and binder such as glue or epoxy will darken the dust and be more odvious than the gap it's self[/QUOTE]

With the grain curls. Daaa Easy button please

Cedar is very hard to fill gaps without evidence. You could try John Mayes suggestion of swelling the area to see if it closes up. Cedar dust and CA or any other binding really do darken more than the parent wood so it most likely will show. Try some hon mahog dust or other wood dust which is lighter in color than the cedar, try it on some scrap cedar with a couple of different binders to see if you can get it closer to the color of the cedar once dried.

Honestly sometimes all you can do (if the gaps are large and many) is to route off the binding and purflings and re-do it, but this is reserved for the perfectionist among us. This is some of the wisdom that I've learned from Paul Woolson over the years.

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What about good old stick shellac? An amber fill may work OK if the gap is not too big. If the gap is too big it may be apparent no matter how hard you try and match it, but the experience gained will help in future episodes of covering you rear!
Why is it that so much of this type of work is making the best of a lousy situation…. but I digress.

Good luck on the fill.

Louis

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Oh No! Not another learning experience!

Phil,

I might not have been clear enough earlier. This is simple take a scrap piece of the cedar and a small hand plane. using the with the grain side male a pile of curls. The odds are you will make many the that will be the right thickness and length. . add some white wood glue into the gap and place the appropriate wedge (curl) into the gap. It needs to fit tight and helps if slightly taller than needed. Most of the glue will squeeze out. Clean up the glue quickly and allow to cure. Lightly sand with 400p and maybe use a small scraper to level out. If you take your time and properly fit a piece you can not see the repair. It appears as if the cedar fits perfect to the binding/purfling or vise versa

I should have said this is a micro version of doing a top crack splint repair

thanks for the suggestions and warnings guys.
i kind of thought that sanding dust and glue would make the problem more obvious.
michael, your suggestion seems like a great one. i make sure to keep the cut offs from each set until the guitar is complete, so i should be able to find some cedar that is a near perfect match.
i think the cause of the gap was from my technique with the 'guitar jigs' binding jig. i just routed another guitar and made sure to take a bit more time and really control the cut. think i got it this time. wish me luck on the binding.
thanks for the help.
phil

If the gap is caused by insufficient pressure to hold the binding tight to the top, wouldn't it make sende to apply some heat and pressure to close the gap?

Ray

If it were me I would put some water on the area, pick out the old glue (if it's
titebond..if it's epoxy or weldon a solvent will be needed) and then put some
more water on it again and seam the area and see if it swells closed (would
have to be like a .020 gap or less for this to work), if not then heat the whole
section of binding/purfling, and work some glue in it and re-tape/clamp it.
If all that does not work then I would rout it off and do it again, but you may
not feel it's needed and you can decide if you can live with it..

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