Bound F holes

[Doug Edwards]

I'm trying to bind the F holes one of my builds. Any special tips beside pre-bending, cut & miter, plus a tub of patience?

[barry k]

Why would you want to do it? never made much sense to me. But , to anwser your question....it not a big deal, no worse than a scroll.

[Lefty Luthier]

I am no fan of binding F-holes but have done a few at the insistence of customers. One tip is to carefully cut a slight angle on the edges to increase the contact surface area in those places where the top is quite thin. Since the top is constantly vibrating, that reduces the odds of having the binding coming loose.

[Bobby W]

Hey Doug - I find binding f holes to be a very useful tool for adjusting soundhole aperture size. I have worked on some mandos that really benefited from having smaller f holes. If that is your intent in binding the f holes, I would would just use some thin binding of one color and apply as many layers is necessary. If you're wanting to triple bind the f holes, I agree that you just have to work carefully.

[dcoventry]

I believe I have read that it might stiffen the top?
Also that it smooths the edges and helps the smooth transfer of sound waves? Stephen Perry was the subject of a thread on this issue not long ago.

Oh yes, it's really, really pretty if done nicely.

[Soundfarmer Pete]

Bob Benedettos archtop guitar building book has plenty of info........

[Steve Sorensen]

In his video, Bendetto just bents with a needle nosed pliers and slaps the binding in with glue and tape. He sure makes it look easy.

[Jim Hilburn]

Remember Bob's emphasis on having a SHARP chisel for the miters.
My personal mandolin is bound and I get compliments all the time. I've never thought of the binding as affecting the tone one way or the other.

[Doug Edwards]

I gave it a whirl a couple days ago, a real PIA. I've almost abandoned the idea, but will keep with some thinner binding. Thanks for the replies.

[Verne Andru]

I understood binding the F-holes restricts the movement of the top and can have an adverse effect on volume and tone. But I could understand wrong...

[Michael Lewis]

Start at one of the "nicks" and cut a piece of binding a bit longer than the length of the edge that ends at the point in the loop, and bend it to fit evenly. Do that for the other nick and loop and glue them in. I use cut up wine corks to make appropriate wedges to hold the binding while the Duco dries. When the glue is well dry (over night or longer) trim the ends of the binding in the loops flush with the other surface (the surface where you will put the next piece of binding), they should form sharp points. Then fit pieces starting again at the nicks and cut the slight miters, then cut the pieces so they fly past the now sharp points in the loops and glue them in. Next day you can trim and refine the work.

Very sharp chisels are a necessity . . . . . . . .oh, and lots of patience.

[Jill McAuley]

I understood binding the F-holes restricts the movement of the top and can have an adverse effect on volume and tone. But I could understand wrong...

There was a thread here earlier in the year where someone said the opposite of this - that binding the f-holes contributed to improved tone/volume - I think it was Brett from Weber. I was contemplating asking Jim Hilburn to bind the f-holes on the A5 he's building for me - he said he didn't know of there being any difference with bound vs. unbound, so that's good enough for me - he's leaving them unbound. Certainly looks nice though, but not enough so that I'd ask Jim to endure the PIA-ness of doing them!

Cheers,
Jill

[Stephen Perry]

Stiffening the edge of the F holes (along with other things) can have a distinct influence.

[Malcolm G.]

I think if the F Holes are cut larger - to compensate for the thickness of the binding, and the binding material itself is of a 1/2 round shape, you'll have the best of all worlds.

[AlanN]

My builder (da Man) said 'No downside'. Works for me.

[Kevin K]

Stiffening the edge of the F holes (along with other things) can have a distinct influence.

How so? better worse?

I believe that's how Gibson came up with the Lawson model sound, regular size holes but binding made narrow and had different and better sound. I believe but maybe mistake, that same size with binding found it's way to the Goldrush model.

[Cush]

It certainly isn't necessary but binding the f holes definitely stengthens the top and it also effectively seals the end grain from the moist air. One drawback of binding the f holes is that you can't easily increase the size of the opening. You can reduce the size with another stip of binding, however. F holes are often the area where cracks develop, either from peoples fingers being forced in, or from the ravages of time and moisture. So overall, it probably is an advantage for durability. Because of their smaller size, binding the f holes on a mandolin is a little more trouble than binding the f holes on an archtop guitar. This is one reason why most mandolins don't have bound F holes.

[George R. Lane]

There was a thread here earlier in the year where someone said the opposite of this - that binding the f-holes contributed to improved tone/volume - I think it was Brett from Weber. I was contemplating asking Jim Hilburn to bind the f-holes on the A5 he's building for me - he said he didn't know of there being any difference with bound vs. unbound, so that's good enough for me - he's leaving them unbound. Certainly looks nice though, but not enough so that I'd ask Jim to endure the PIA-ness of doing them!

Jill,
When I had my Yellowstone built last year, Brett did state to me that binding the F holes on an englemann top would indeed help to stiffen it. When I looked at Bruce he shook his head in agreement, so I had them bound. It has great volume and a beautiful tone. I guess it worked in my case.

[Brett Byers]

My comments regarding the improvement in tone and volume with bound F-holes applies exclusively to Englemann spruce. I've done lots of comparisons over the last decade of various combinations of this and that, and I've noticed consistent, substantial improvements in tone and volume on mandolins with Englemann tops and bound F-holes vs. Englemann tops without bound F-holes. While my "results" are in no way scientific, they do lead me to believe that Englemann tops are greatly improved by the stiffening that results from binding the F-holes. It has become my favorite combination for mandolin tops, and my own personal mandolin (in construction now, almost done) features an Englemann top with bound F-holes. Very dry, woody tone with lots of low end "woof", and great clarity on the higher registers.

[George R. Lane]

Brett,
Thanks for suggesting the bound F holes on my Yellowstone. As I stated earlier I love the tone and volume on mine.