Official Luthiers Forum!

hi guys im completly new to this forum and have only just signed up, im looking for help building an electric guitar, i know pretty much the basics but i am in the dark about bindings on the edges, does anyone know the tools i need to cut the grove around the edge? i have tried it with a standard router but its impossible to get it the right depth, width all the way around, im just looking to put a nice wood binding round the edges to finish them off, has anyone any idea of how i can go about this?

thanks a lot for your help
scott

Two ways: either get a biding router bit set, essentially rabbet bits with a variety of different ball bearings to guide your way around. StewMac sells a cheap-ish, basic set, LMI has a hugely expansive one. Works best if you've got a flat-topped electric.

Second option, get an edge guide for your router. StewMac sells a mini router base and edge guide for the dremel, ostensibly for the purpose of routing binding channels, but honestly, I think the Dremel is utterly useless for anything but inlay routing, and it's not really the best tool for that, either. Use a router or a laminate trimmer for the job.

On carved top electrics, wherever possible, I route for binding and sometimes even install it before carving the top. After all, full height purfling's no problem.

Mattia's way to do a carved top binding is clever... never thought of that... :-)

you didn't mention is this a flat topped instrument or a carved top.

If you have never routed bindings before you need to be very careful about the direction you are routing. If you are not careful you can get serious chip out.

_________________
Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Basic rule for routing binding: always start at a peak and move to a valley. In other words, start at the wide bits of the guitar, and move to the narrower ones, even if this includes a climb cut here and there. To 'finish up' you can do one full sweep in the 'right' direction, when the risk of blowing out parts of your carefully cut body is minimal to non-existant.

If you're not comfortable with climb cuts (Which can run away from you, easily), practice on scrap first. The leftovers from cutting out your body shape are idea for this purpose, have a few curves built right in.