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Here are some pics. I still do not have the router parts attached... need to recut a piece of wood. Does the height of the arm above the body look right? Seems a bit close.

How do you set the body in the holder? What is the goal? Does it have to be perfectly level? Seems odd since the back is spherical...

Mike

Mike my friend the height looks fine to me.

The goal of setting up the holder is to adjust the guitar body height, each time you use it and for every body style, so that the body is as level as you can get it. I measure the distance from the bench top or holder jig base plate to the guitar top or back at the 4 clamped locations and adjust each clamp's height adjustment until they are all the same give or take 1/16" or so.

I have one bench that I use for this jig and both the Williams jig and the holder jig are bolted onto the bench in 4 places with 1/8" bolts and wing nuts.

Looking good Mike!

When you say guitar back or top, are you refering to the part touching the holder or the exposed, about to be cut part?

Mike (I think it makes a difference)

Yep Mike - the exposed, about to be cut part. The part of the guitar that the router will ride on (which ever is up - top or back) should be as level as you can reasonably get it.

Also - be sure to make sure that your router is mounted straight up and down from all angles. It's also a good idea to check and adjust as needed the router for straight up and downness with the arm extended to the point of the mid section of the guitar body. I extended mine over the center of the guitar and made a mark with a marker on the slides, removed the guitar, and leveled/adjusted the router with the arm extended to the mark.

Why? Because these jigs do have a very small about of slop in the turn table and flex in the drawer slides and adjusting the router position at the midsection of the guitar body divides the slop between the two sides of the guitar, the closer side and the far side.

I think you will have a better sense of the correct height once you have the parallel arms on it.

_________________
A higher purpose for wood.
Rich Smith
Issaquah, WA

Todd, Hesh, Thanks.

Todd, that is why I have not attached the end mechanism yet. I figured there would be some adjusting... thanks for the tips.

Hesh, I get cutting the top side. but I do not really get cutting the backside (level as possible) since it is spherical. Is the machine that forgiving? Get close on average? Sort of get the neck and tail blocks the same height at the edges?

I ain't cutting anything till I REALLy get it! My "table" is two 3/4" MDF slabs, 6 feet long, 24" wide sitting on those metal saw horses from Lowes. Not so bad. But I need one more horse for the middle... noted a little sag. This works for me given the limited abount of space I have and the fact I can stow it all away.

Mike (ya'll like my Fox Bender in the background? Was trully amazed at the toughness of those springs!)

Mike when I first set up my Williams jig I wondered if it was that forgiving too.

Try this - when the router is mounted chuck a pin or drill bit in the router and adjust the topside height of the guitar as mentioned above, equal at the four clamp points and/or the head and tail block too. Carefully place the router's donut on the topside with the pin against the side. Move the router around the guitar and you should see that the donut stays on the topside in all locations. This will be the same for the back (bigger dome) and top (less dome or no dome if you build flat tops).

The slop in the mechanisms will keep everything engaged and you should get a very consistent cut in all locations. Not to be a nag but be sure to make climb cuts as per the diagram on Stew-Mac's site for their binding router bit set.

I had a mental block when I first got my Williams jig but after using it one time it was clear that it is very easy to use, does a great job, and takes the stress out of cutting the binding channels. Unfortunately I could not think of anything other then a guitar to practice with but the first time out went perfectly.

Gosh, I keep having to expose my ignorance. Climb cut? Is that a certain direction, say with the bit spin direction?

Mike

Not at all Mike I had no idea what climb cuts were either.

Here is a diagram from our friends at Stew-Mac showing the order of cuts. The first thing that you do is make the four cuts in the direction shown. The next pass is in the opposite direction and a complete circumnavigation of the guitar.

The purpose of climb cuts is to reduce or hopefully eliminate the possibility of chip-out/blow-out from the router bit catching the end grain.

I have to disagree with Hesh on making the back level (Sorry Hesh). If you do that, your sides will not be perpendicular and the ledges will be cut funky. Due to the taper in the sides, the back is not parallel to the top. Use the edge of the top as your reference for leveling when cutting the top AND the back.

Barry my friend you are right and I just learned something. Many thanks!

So a symptom of making the back level might be a shallower (thinner binding) cut neat the neck heel area?

Yes, that is one symptom. It may also be a little thicker at the bottom.

These binding jigs reference off the sides to provide an even binding thickenss.

My route bench for this process is perm and dead level. After adjusting my router base square with the table, I use a large mech square and make sure the box is square to the the table at the headblock and tailblock. I check the sides also at each bout and waist, but find most times they are square to table after setting the front and rear. but may do a little adjustment. Fast and keeps the channels even cuts.