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I spent yesterday cutting binding channels with my dremel.What a chore trying to get it right.I was wondering if I could get some feedback on some of the jigs being used.I`ve looked at a few but don`t know any of the pro`s and cons having never used any.
                                  James
                                    
                       

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Hi James,

Good morning. There's very few folks using a dremel for cutting binding channels. They have neat jigs, but they come up short on power, and most will agree most models come up short on accuracy. If you can sprin $100 for a laminate trimmer, and some time building some kind of jig or fixture, you'll get much better results.

You also can buy metal jigs that attch to the bottom of the router. They are very compact, but very expensive.

You'll have to weigh the expense/investment against the perceived value.

You will find many discussions in the archives


I can't find my Mark Kett jig, and Hesh has a fancy one he sent me pix of, I'll try to locate these other two under the router mounted jigs.

These are pix Hesh sent me. He'll have to elaborate

To let you know Hesh has moved away from that jig and is now using a Williams/Fleischman style jig.

I made one similar to the Guitar Jigs, Taylor, Larrivee binding jig. Take a look here for one that Roy Ott made based on mine. He added some cool features that I want to add at some point too.

The pro's and cons are unique for each jig.

The Williams/Fleischman jig is larger, requiring more storage space and space to use it but because you are moving the cutter and not the guitar it's probably considered the easiest to use.

the Ribbekle (sp?) style like the second picture also requires a larger working area and storage of the jig, you move the guitar on the body holder, little bit more technical to use but still effective.

both these two generally require a rabbit type bit and bearing set which can add to the cost of the jig.

The jig that I built is very small, doesn't take up much room for storage, doesn't require more than one bit but......when your cutting the channel, your working blind in that you can't see the area being cut. You get use to this but it does take some practice.

Hope this helps.

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over the years i've built and used a number of binding routing jigs, both the sort which index off the sides, and both the common types which index off the top, that offered by lmi and the williams design( look in the jigs and fixtures section above). to me the jigs which index off the top are preferable because it is much easier to maintain a uniform channel, but they do have the disadvantage of requiring more space for storage and use.

of the two common top indexing jigs, i prefer the williams type despite it taking a bit more time and material to build. for me, it is much easier running the router on the instrument than having to move the instrument under the router, especially when one takes into account the need to route down hill to minimise the risk of chipout. also takes a bit less space to use, but occupies a bit more in storage when not in use.

both do a good job.

The first picture in this thread shows my simple binding jig. Here is a thread with more pictures, a drawing and an explanation of how I use it.

Arnt Rian's binding jig

I have no experience with the more elaborate binding jigs mentioned, but my little jig cuts so cleanly and is so simple to operate that I don't feel the urge to make a more complex one. If anything, I will probably make another one like the one I have and leave one set up for bindings and one for purflings so I don't have to change the settings every time, which can be finicky.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Thanks guys.I sent an e-mail to John Hall.He`s helped me out before.
                James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

I ordered the Stewmac binding jig yesterday so I'll have it in the next few weeks.

Will post a report once we've got it set up.

I know there were a few concerns about the stability of the router tower from the pictures in the catalogue in a previous post.

I have to say though, that anything I've bought from Stewmac has been first class.

Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

I shall making a Williams jig as I feel it`s the best jig for the job. I just bought the hardware needed here in the UK from my local B&Q store. For UK OLFers here are the prices.

Router cutter - ?12.95
Draw slides - ?12.98
Television swivel - ?7.98

I shall be turning some nylon bushes on my mini lathe for the router cutter. I`ll make them as needed. Two I need first will be one for a .020" and one for a .110" rebate. Notice the router cutter has a shear cut angle. Should cut down the possibility of tearout.

Hesh,

I bought the plans for Don's jig and we were going to build it, but both Dave and I are busy at the moment and we will have about five guitars to bind in the next month so for expediency sake we decided to buy it.

Tim Spittle has just built one and it cost him around $200AUD and a couple of weeks work to build it. The Stewmac Jig plus the router bits and guides was $400 delivered to OZ.

Not much difference if you factor in the construction time.

We'll certainly give our impressions of it once we've used it.

Cheers

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Bob Connor
Geelong, Australia

Here is just a different approach for a compact binding jig. The basic jig is a "Balance Arm" I found used at a industrial surplus warehouse for $30. I have seen similar items on Ebay. I had to adapt the end to fit my Bosch Colt. With a little creativity I am sure this could be built from hardwood and standard hardware. In this picture I mounted the jig to the back of my dish sander so it can be swiveled out of the way when not in use.





Good Luck!

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Brad
Avon, OH

Hesh,

I built a jig out of phenolic that looks just like yours.  I didn't have any problem with tilting it into the guitar, the geometry of the shoe prevents that from happening - at least with mine.  I use a down cut 1/4" spiral carbide and it did a very nice job.  If I wasn't so lazy I'd go out to the shop and take a picture.  I used fine threads on the lead screw so the adjusment is very precise, indexable and repeatable.

I also have a Ribbecke style jig I got off e-bay and haven't used it - will probably sell it as it takes up space and I don't need it.

Doug

Doug O,

I might be interested in the Ribbecke style jig if it's for sale. PM me or e-mail me at PSL53 at excite.com. I'll be out of touch until next week.

Thanks

Peter

Peter, I will send you some pics of the Ribbecke jig via PM.

Hesh, here's some pics of my home made jig.

And while were at it a couple shots of the Micro Fence jig for cutting rosettes and such.  This is a wonderful little tool.  Grizzly sells down cut spirals as small as .023", which allows you to cut in VERY small purfling lines at the rosettee.

Doug