Binding and Abalone...

After breathing a huge sigh of relief from cutting the channels it was now time to attach the binding and abalone.

I chose the white plastic bindings and b/w/b strips on both sides of my abalone.  I started by putting down a coat of shellac around the edge.  I've been told the CA glue can wick into the end grain of the spruce top and turn to a yellow stain after a couple of years.  The shellac will prevent that from happening.

You can see in the picture below the bindings taped on.  This allowed me to spot glue the bindings on.  The tape was removed and CA was wicked down into the remaining spots.

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I made sure the bindings were glued well into place and then started placing the abalone shell and b/w/b purflings.  Everything fit well, but the abalone was a little intimidating.  The abalone came in straight 1" strips and to fit around the curves it needs to be "cracked" into place.  As this was the first time I'd ever done this, I wasn't sure how that was going to go.  It actually wasn't that bad... a few pieces had to filed to be shaped correctly around the tight bends, but most of it broke great.  It turned out really nice.

It took me a couple of hours to install the abalone and then another couple of hours to sand everything down to flush.  I was relieved to see it all come together and to look as good as it does.

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