It is always a relief to get the binders on successfully. The meeting joints at the rear are so visible, The binding is such an important part of the final look, that you want to get it perfect. I never get it quite perfect, but I am getting closer. This time they went on pretty well, And after the binders, the end pieces. Ah!! the challenges never end. Guess thats what makes it fun.
Once the binders are on you must sand them down flush with the soundboard surface. I like to make my binders narrower than the typical binder raw material, thus, an edge stands proud and must be reduced to the level of the soundboard. I am always afraid to take the router to it at this late stage so I sand it down with this long scrap with coarse sandpaper stuck on it. The dark material around the edges of this redwood top is sawdust from the sanding process. This is a good time to put a little white glue in any tiny openings between top and side and sand the sawdust right into it. When it dries you will never notice the tiny gaps that have now been filled.
 Here I have glued in a couple of pieces of black white black purling and now I am fitting a piece of curly maple in between. |  After lots of sanding and fitting, it finally fits. Now to glue it in and sand it flush. |
Now it is getting close, when this is finish sanded and french polished it will look pretty good
