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After all these years of tinkering with everyone else's guitars, I'm finally getting around to actually making one of my own!  It's been a slow process, but a fun one.

Regarding gluing the binding and purfling: it's been recommended to install them (and secure) them to the body together... which makes sense.  

Where I'm having an issue is figuring-out which glue to use.  The herringbone purfling is of a fiber/wood construction which calls for Titebond.   OK, fine.

But the binding itself is ABS, which calls for a nitro glue like Duco or StewMac's "Bind All" cement.

So my neophyte question is: in order to glue them to the body, taped up together, which glue will glue them both in place? 

Do you lay a thin bead of titebond on the inside ledge for the purfling, then quickly lay a bead of Duco (or similar) on the next ledge for the ABS binding ...then tape-up a few inches & repeat?  

That seems a bit much, but maybe that's the case?    Anyway, thanks for any hints! 

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Well darn ... no takers, eh?  

OK, while I'm hangin' around on this binding/purfling glue issue, here's a little unrelated tidbit I ran-across while doing a refret on an (otherwise) nice Ibanez 12-string. 

I've never seen a trussrod sitting so off-center as this one!   The first clue was hearing an ungodly squeak when turning it, although the actual function seems fine.  Go figure.

Now, back to that gluing issue....

I've only used plastic binding a couple of times, once with a similar purfling, and did it all with Duco, gluing a section at a time and taping it down. I've done it that way with Titebond too but with simpler purfling. It took a lot of tape strips and  sometimes double layers to get it tight.

Lately I've only used wood binding with a .060 blk/mpl/blk purfling, bending the binding on the bender first then taping it as tight as I could every inch or so and using a drop of CA between the tapes. Sometimes I need to add some pressure to the outside of the binding while the CA drop cures to keep it tight. Also a clamp across the waist really helps. Then remove the tape and wick CA around the whole thing. Don't forget to put a couple of coats of shellac in the channel before doing this. The CA will wick into the spruce end grain and cause a permanent yellow stain. I think I remember doing it this way once with plastic too.

Thanks, Carl... excellent advice, and particularly with using shellac to seal the channels.  I guess that's always a prudent and safe idea, CA or not.

What I've got is the herringbone fiber-type purfling and .060" ABS right next to it on-edge.  

Everything I've read says the results are better and tighter when both are taped-up and installed together, but nowhere could I find the trick to doing that when each required a different type glue. 

You've given me some confidence that the Duco is able to handle both materials on spruce, so I'll give that a go.   Thank you!

It might not be good to try this cold turkey on a new build but I've been using a new (to me) adhesive that may show promise for binding attachment and other repair applications.  It's called Crafter's Pick "The Ultimate", labeled as "The Only non-toxic Water based super glue, adheres to Metals, Plastics, Glass & more."

I used this a couple of years ago to reattach loose binding on a 20 year old F5 mandolin headstock.  Part of the binding had come loose and was probably attached with Duco.  i had previously reattached the other end of the same strip with ACC and encountered a little difficulty with squeeze out damaging the adjacent finish.  I used CP to reattach the remainder of the loose binding. The glue handles very much like white glue and has held the nitro binding in place since application.  It cleans up like white glue so there's no damage to the finish with squeeze out.

I haven't had the chance to try it in a larger application (I only work on my own instruments) but it seems promising.  I also build scale models and have used it for plastic to plastic, plastic to wood, and occasionally, wood to wood with no problem.  Reviews in the model press indicate it works very well in most applications. It seems to be a good replacement for VOC based adhesives in many applications.

Available at craft stores like Michaels, etc.

Larry

Interesting find, Larry.   I'm with you on not experimenting with a new build, but it's always exciting to hear about a fresh glue for the arsenal!  Can't have too many, it seems.

The most appealing qualities (for me) would be how it sounds more than able to bond dissimilar materials, cleans up like a standard white glue and causes no finish damage.... that's all good news. 

There's a Michaels hobby store in the not-quite-so-close area, so I will make a note to check it out the next time I'm over in that vicinity.  Thanks for the tip!

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