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Hello all,
Some progress on my acoustic/electric this week. Chambered the body and taking measurements for control cavity and such. I purchased some black plastic binding form stewmac and have a question.

Would you recommend purchaseing the router bit\bering that goes with this particular binding? By this I mean they sell specific bits for their specific binding sizes for "ease of installiation" (I know you guys already know this....jus explaining to make my point clear.)

or......

use the attachment for my router that came with it(do not know what the technical term for the attachment but it allows you to cut a rabbit on the side of the guitar and is adjustable) and a straight bit?

Remember this is for a first timer so ease of use is good....also I plan to test on the scrap to make sure everything fits as well.

Thanks for any advice
Matthew

most use a jig of one sort or another to hold the router. the jig can be either a hand held jig which indexes off the sire of the body and a donut surrounding the bit, or one of the jig which use bearing drawer slides to control the attitude and movement of the router. trying to use just the router freehand is a wee bit risky.

the jigs tools and techniques section at the right top of the page shows old member don williams adaptation of the fleischman jig. searching the forum archives will reveal a number of other types.

I am not much help, I use a Dremel 400XPR with a StewMac Binding Bit and the StewMac Precision Base with Binding attachment. This is a handheld or freehand system with a bearing guide that is attached to the base and keeps you positioned properly to your cut. Alot of the guys here use Laminate Trimmers or Routers that use the bearing sets you see at StewMac and LMI.

It works well, not as good as the Binding Jig set up mentioned above, but I have not had any problems.

I would buy more than one of the Binding bits if you head in this direction, sharp is a good thing

No matter what you do as you stated, do several practice boards until your setting and cut creates a perfect fit for either your binding or purf.

Good Luck

Mike

Thanks for the fast response. This guitar is a true flat topped guitar. Another idea I had was to purchase the berring guided bit I mentioned in a table and with the body upside down route the binding slot. This would give a lot more stability when performing the job.

I have searched a lot here and have seen the jigs you mentioned. For my first guitar I was trying not to invest in such a jig as of yet and do it either with a regular handheld router and edge guide or with the stewmac set up.

Is it that I will not be able to perform this task without the binding jigs you mentioned, or that it is just a fool proof way of doing it(with the metioned jigs that is)?

On a related note...I have looked a lot here and read the info on the stewmac site about installiation. I am going to use the glue that they recommend with this plastic binding (weld on I think.....comes in a red tube). I have seen here that some people seal the binding slot with shellac prior to glueing the binding in. Is this a prefered method for all binding applicaitons or just where CA is involved? I am guessing that this is to stop the CA from weeping far into the wood and staining the top and giving uneven color when finishing.

Thanks again
Matthew.

if you are doing a tru flat top, and back, then your router with a bearing guide and a downcut spiral could give good results. you just have to be very careful to keep the axis through the center of the bearing and the center of the bit perpendicular to the tangent on the side in order to keep the channel uniform. otherwise, a rebate style bit with bearing to match the binding does it for you.

if you are going to use the router without a jig, i would also recommend that you buy or make an eccentric sub-base with the extended grip. it really will help to prevent tipping the router off the edge of the guitar.

oh, i forgot your question about the shellac. i use it on the binding channel regardless of the glue i,m using. i find it reduces the amount of scraping necessary to remove the glue mess without leaving any residue which makes for finishing problems.

hesh, he already said it's a true flat top!

Thanks for all the info guys.... I would like to use a spiral cut bit just for safety dealing with blow out issues but this might require an in depth jig to acomplish this....and if that is the case then I will go with the full set up you guys are talking about. However, the ease of use of the bearing bit set really appeals to me from my pocket book as well as ease of use.

Yep my top and back are flat. The guitar is close to the Anderson Crowduster for reference.

So Shellac before cutting the slot to help with squeeze out. Cut channel with the bearing bit in a table for stability or put a larger base on my laminate router with the bearing bit and cut.

My biggest fear is blow out / tear out. This is probably the single most issue that has me contemplating not even doing binding! I am going to follow the recomended directions on the stewmac site in terms of where to route and in what direction to help minimize the risk but still I am nervous. The body is mahogany and the top will be curly redwood. Are these woods prone to issues with routing? I already trued up my mahogany body blank with a table router with no issues.

Any tips on how to prevent tear out using the bearing bit either in a table or handheld router will be appreciated. I thought of putting a piece of tape around the bearing, making the cuts, then take the tape off and climb cut the final pass.....sounds sane? Also, should I make the binding channes then route out the neck pocket or pocket first then cut the binding channel (which is safer for tear out)

Thanks for the help
Matthew

Matt,
Good to hear you are making progress! Can't wait to see the final product. I would spray with shellac first, then put tape on the sides so the bearing doesn't leave marks on it. Take a light pass to see if there will be any blow out, and use the stew mac instructions on which way to route. You will know after the first pass whether you will have issues on the next passes. You should be fine. Good luck! And don't forget to post pics!
Tracy

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Tracy
http://www.luthiersuppliers.com

so long as you follow the direction of route that s-m shows you should have no blowout problems as long as your bit is sharp asnd there are no preexisting fractures in the wood.

the whole point of routing in the directions shown is that the bit will always be compressing the grain rather than separating it. be aware that the single arrows are what are referred to as climb cuts in which the bit will want to force the router away from the work. if you allow this to happen the binding channel will not be as thick as you want and will necessitate going over them again. so make sure you keep the bearing, whichever you decide to use, firmly againts the side of the guitar.

Tools to use: If you plan to build more then I would invest in binding fixture or a hand held binding attachment the indexes the side at two points. I have a stationary fixture and also this attachment for a hand held laminate trimmer


It indexes at two points as I said above, to keep the channels square to the sides. But then again I like hand routing over the stationary fixture.