Charles Fox’s Superglue Binding Method

by Tom Harper

Originally published in American Lutherie #76, 2003 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Seven, 2015



My first binding effort was done using basic tools and materials — a gramil, chisel, yellow glue, and masking tape. I sweated bullets carving out those channels! Then came the gluing: wet sticks going everywhere but in the channel, tape sticking to gluey fingers and then peeling off and making a mess of fragile purfling strips. Somehow it worked out. Since that first experience, I’ve gotten enough control over the task that it’s an orderly process these days. However, I still have a little foreboding when I start binding an instrument. Based on the amount of discussion about binding methods that I’ve encountered, I think this may be true for others as well.

When I saw that Charles Fox was offering a course at American School of Lutherie (ASL) about his binding methods, I jumped at the chance to attend. I had taken some other courses from Charles and had seen some of his earlier methods demonstrated. I knew that Charles would have about as foolproof a setup as anyone and that his methods would be easy to incorporate into my own shop.