Official Luthiers Forum!

I have used about every binding system under the sun and all seem to have their pros and cons.

I am curious to try the Luthier Tool binding jig. Anyone have one of these? Comments? Anybody interested in letting me borrow it for a couple of days so i can see if I want to buy one?

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

Brock, if I remember right I think MichaelP claims to use one of these. I'd like to have one too, but at $205.00 plus shipping I'll have to wait a minute.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Brock,

I have one at the school and use it. Like you said, it does have its pros and cons. I use it and feel comfortable using it. However, for my students, I think the binding cutter bearing bit method is easier for them. This semester we are going to use the binding cutter jig that John Hall donated to us. Let me know if you want to use the luthier tool jig. The one I have is for the PC laminate trimmer.

Brock my friend I had one for a while but ended up going with a William's Jig instead and giving the Luthier Tool jig away to someone who had a great use for it - a student that needed one.

The Luthier Tool jig is beautifully made and perhaps the finest dedicated guitar building tool that I have ever had at Heshtone Global headquarters. My concern about it which ultimately caused me to give mine away BEFORE ever trying it on a guitar was that it is possible with any of these types of jigs, there are several that you can make yourself too (Wells/Karol) is that it is possible to lean it inward toward the center of the guitar and take a divot out of your top/back.

Mind you the guys that use these seem to love them and get good enough with them that I hear that this rarely happens - but it is still possible and we have had a member or two who have posted that they took a divot out of a top for this very reason. If you don't keep the bearing arm/guide firmly against the guitar side these can lean inward. Also, a laminate trimmer with a high CG can contribute to the divot syndrome as well but a good old R2D2 (PC 310 that I know you have several of) would be the first choice for me if I used the Luthier Tool jig.

You do have to make a guitar holder and it needs to be not much over 1" high so the bearing arm/guide does not hit it. The jig requires two hand use IMHO at all times so the guitar has to be secured independently. Also once you consider the space requirements of the guitar holder that you have to make the space savings of this jig is reduced.

The micro-adjust was superbly engineered and worked flawlessly and the spiral down-cut bit is an improvement over the binding cutter sets from the usual suspects.

Thinking back I could have made this jig work for me but I was just more comfortable with something more Hesh-proof which the William's jig most certainly is.

Here are some pictures for your consideration:

I have one, and have two others I had made before getting the LT jig. The only thing I didnt like about it after using it a couple times, is that it doesnt balance like my other ones - so I added a couple chunks of aluminum to counterbalance ... now it feels just like the other ones, but runs smoother because of the bearings. The one with the big round counterbalance is permanently set for binding ledges - just pick it up and go.

BTW - I use it laid horizontally on the guitars sides ....

The UHMW version is the original I made years ago ....

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I like to use my home made version this way, I think it gives much better control of the cut.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Thanks.

I have a few of Chris' other tools and they are awesome. I am using a Fleishman/Williams jig now to cut the back bindings and I like it ok, but I find the set up to be awkward and slow. I cut the top rabbets with a simple bearing guided lam trimmer (which works great) and I was thinking just having a tool to cut the back bindings the same way would be very conveninet.

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

Yep I use it. Due to the fact that your router is going to be top heavy there is a learning curve to how to use it. The key is that you want to keep the bearings in contact with the sides. There is also the miss understanding that the tapered base plate can ride on the top or back. This is not the case. The tapered base plate has a short flat at the bit. Just like a donut only a very small foot print is to be in contact with the top or back. The taper is there to give clearance only. The system works great. I love the fixture but it would be nice if the bearing assembly weighed more to give better balance.

Arnt,
Would you mind posting more pictures of this. I really like this setup and the idea of having this clamped in a vise and turning the guitar around the bit. I saw one of Bob Taylor's videos on his website where it is done similar to what you are doing. I don't have any kind of jig set up for binding yet but do have a PC 310 trimmer.

Anyway, sure would like to know how to make one like yours.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

How is it going around a venetian cutaway?

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

Cutaways is where I think it sines. Because the bearing assembly is small even very tight radii are no issueas long as you can get your hand in there. The small bearing assembly really helps in cutaways.

Brock I also suggest using a vacuum clamp rather than a routing pad to hold the body when using this. I also like to have the vacuum clamp stand up high enough so that I can see that the bearings are always in contat as I go.

I have a couple of these for 2 years and like them a lot. I was using a homemade version before, so I knew what to expect and have never made a divot. The critical issue is using the hand that holds the bearings against the side to have complete control of the movement and just use the upper hand for balance. I added a simple wooden handle extension to the lower part of the unit, and I would strongly recommend that anyone who gets one of these to do so, as it makes a huge difference. I just used a scrap of maple and ripped the dovetail shape on the table saw and cleaned the rest with a router. A bit of brown tape for a shim and some superglue to hold it all together. (This should be obvious, but as a safety note, rip the dovetail slot out of a longer piece of wood and them cut the desired handle length.)

Brook

Hi Chuck, here's a link to an old thread where I explained a little about it.

http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=6817&hilit=+binding+jig

Since that time I've added an adjustment screw for the in-out adjustment of the binding width, it makes this operation a little less cumbersome. This thing is so simple and works so well that I have not felt the need to upgrade to a more elaborate jig.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin