How to Apply Guitar Binding — Routing, Bending & Gluing Guide

Binding serves two purposes on a guitar — it protects the exposed end grain along the edges of the body and neck from moisture and damage, and it provides a clean visual border that frames the instrument. Applying binding is one of the more demanding steps in a guitar build, but with the right materials, a steady hand and a bit of patience, it is well within reach of any builder.

Choosing your binding material

The most common binding materials are ABS plastic, celluloid, and wood. ABS is the easiest to work with — it bends readily with gentle heat, glues cleanly and scrapes flush without much fuss. Celluloid gives the most authentic vintage look and bonds beautifully with solvent cement, but it is more brittle and requires care when bending tight radii. Wood binding (maple, rosewood or ebony) looks stunning but demands more skill — it needs to be bent on a hot pipe or in a bending jig and glued with wood glue or CA adhesive.

Binding is available in various widths and thicknesses. Standard body binding is typically 6mm wide and 1.5mm thick, though you can get narrower strips for necks and wider strips for more dramatic borders. Browse the full range of binding and purfling strips here.

Routing the binding channel

The binding channel is a ledge routed into the edge of the guitar body that the binding strip sits in. You need a router table or a laminate trimmer with a bearing-guided straight bit, set to cut a channel that exactly matches the width and depth of your binding strip.

Measure your binding carefully with a calliper before setting up your router. The channel depth should match the binding thickness exactly — if it is too shallow, the binding will sit proud and you will sand through it trying to level it; if it is too deep, you will have a visible gap. The channel width should match the binding height. Make test cuts on scrap wood of the same thickness as your guitar body until the binding drops in with a light press fit.

Rout the channel in a single pass at a steady feed rate. Going too slowly can burn the wood, while going too fast can cause tear-out, especially on figured timbers. For the cutaway area on single or double cutaway bodies, take extra care — the tight inside radius is where most routing mistakes happen. Some builders prefer to use a Dremel with a small straight bit for the tightest parts of the cutaway and finish with a sharp chisel.

Bending the binding

ABS and celluloid binding can be bent to shape using gentle heat. A heat gun on a low setting works, but a dedicated bending iron or even a length of copper pipe heated with a torch gives more control. Hold the binding strip against the heated surface and apply gentle, even pressure — you are aiming to soften the plastic enough to take a curve, not to melt it. Celluloid is flammable, so keep the temperature moderate and never use an open flame directly on the material.

For tight radii like cutaways, pre-bend the binding to roughly the right curve before attempting to glue it. Trying to force a straight strip around a tight bend while the glue is setting is a recipe for spring-back, cracking, or a messy glue joint. Some builders make a simple bending jig from MDF that matches the body outline — pre-bend the binding around this, tape it in place, and let it cool and set before gluing.

Gluing

The adhesive depends on the binding material. For ABS and celluloid, solvent cement (acetone for celluloid, MEK or a dedicated plastic cement for ABS) is the best option — it partially dissolves the binding and the channel surface, creating a chemical weld that is extremely strong and invisible. Apply the solvent to the channel with a small brush, press the binding into place, and tape it firmly every 2-3cm with masking tape. Work quickly in short sections — solvent cement sets fast.

For wood binding, yellow wood glue (like Titebond Original) or CA adhesive both work well. CA is faster but less forgiving — once it grabs, there is no repositioning. Wood glue gives you a few minutes of working time to adjust the fit. Whichever adhesive you use, tape the binding tightly in place along its entire length. Some builders use surgical tubing or rubber bands wrapped around the body for even clamping pressure.

Work in sections rather than trying to do the entire body at once. Start from the tail end, work up one side to the neck pocket, then do the other side. The joint where the two ends meet at the tail should be cut cleanly at a slight angle for an invisible seam.

Scraping and levelling

Once the adhesive has fully cured (give solvent cement at least a few hours, wood glue overnight), remove all the tape and begin levelling the binding flush with the body surface. A sharp cabinet scraper is the best tool for this — it removes material quickly and cleanly without the risk of sanding through the binding or rounding over the edges.

Hold the scraper at a slight angle and work along the binding in smooth, even strokes. The goal is to bring the binding exactly flush with both the top surface and the side of the body. Take particular care where the binding meets the wood — any gap here will be visible under a clear finish. If there are small gaps, a mixture of binding dust (scraped from an offcut) and a drop of CA adhesive makes an effective filler that matches the binding colour perfectly.

Once scraped flush, sand lightly with 320-grit paper wrapped around a flat block, followed by 400-grit. Do not over-sand — you only need to remove scraper marks, not reshape the binding.

Adding purfling

Purfling is the thin decorative line (usually black-white-black) that sits alongside the binding. On many guitars, purfling is glued into a separate narrow channel routed adjacent to the binding channel. The process is the same as binding — rout the channel, bend the purfling to shape, glue with solvent cement, and scrape flush.

Alternatively, some binding strips come with purfling already laminated on. These multi-layer strips save a step but are slightly more difficult to bend cleanly around tight radii because the layers can delaminate if overheated.

Finishing over binding

Once the binding is flush and sanded, the body is ready for finishing. If you are using nitrocellulose lacquer, be aware that the solvents in nitro can soften ABS and celluloid binding — this is actually desirable, as it helps the finish flow seamlessly over the binding-to-wood transition. However, if you are spraying an opaque colour and want the binding to remain natural (the classic look), you will need to mask the binding before spraying your colour coats, then remove the masking before applying clear coats over everything.

Scrape the binding edges clean after colour coats if any paint has bled under the masking tape — a fresh razor blade held perpendicular to the binding works well for this.