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Masking Vs. Scraping Binding

Jun 23, 2014
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Cape Cod MA
My bass project will have white body binding and jet black finish paint, so the line between paint and binding couldn't be more high contrast. It has to be perfectly sharp, or it will look like shite. I've seen videos on Youtube and on various factory tour videos showing binding being scraped by hand with razor blades before the clearcoat goes on. This looks like a really steep learning curve! Has anyone ever successfully used masking tape vs, scraping binding? I know there are very high quality masking tapes and "frisket" used in automotive painting, is it worth a try, or should I just suck it up and practice on some scrap with binding inlaid?
 
If you decide to mask the binding, spray a coat of clear after you mask it to seal the edge of the tape so no black can run underneath it. Let it dry then spray your black.
 
My experience with scraping is that it isn't too bad. I did it with a cabinet scraper and used the wood as a template. On the other hand, my binding was black, so nothing really could show up on it even if stain got on it. I'm not sure how deep paint or stain would penetrate on white binding. Just my 2 cents