Official Luthiers Forum!

I have posted this here for anyone interested. JWardle81 had asked if anyone has a binding jig for sale and my suggestion was that he build one. For me the tool construction is as fun as the guitars, especially when it works as well as this. I chose to use the glider hinges from Lee Valley for the parallelogram as they are perfect for this purpose, they have bearings and are reasonably priced. One could make their own from metal or wood scraps. I use a porter cable trim router and a 1/4" spiral downcut carbide bit. It is infinitely adjustable with the router base guide I found on Ebay. The one I got was a stanley but Sears,Rockwell and others make similar parts.

Parts list;
20" drawer slide $15.00
Lazy susan bearing $12.00 http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/pa ... 13&p=44042
Glider chair hardware Lee Valley $12.50 http://www.leevalley.com/en/hardware/pa ... at=3,50659
Pair of utility springs home depot $4.00
Plywood scraps
Router base guide from Ebay $20.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-STANLEY-TOO ... 589697296a

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Dude, you rock! Thanks for sharing the info!

Do you have any pictures of the unit in action?
I would love to see how that guide works.

Here is the only pic I have of it operating. Also note that the guitar is in a holding jig, also on a turntable.

_________________
My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Thanks.
I took your lead and scarfed up the last of those NOS router base guides. Then after paying, I realized I would alway need to register the router perpendicular to the suface being routed. Which makes the williams jig a little obsolete.
But with a spinning guitar in a guide it should work fine.

I could never get mine to do a perfect rebate all the way around anyhow.
So with the guide, my method won't change much.

Dave

Brian,

Thank you! This is really great!

Dave, I messed around for awhile to make everything work. The guitar needs to be levelled as close as possible prior to cutting the channels. The sides should be close to plumb.This is easy with the holding jig. I will try and take a pic tomorrow. Also you need a radiused taper on the router base so that the base only registers on the outer edge of the top or back so that it is not effected by the dome. Hope this makes sense.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

When you say that the guitar is also on a turntable, are you saying that there is another lazy susan bearing under the guitar?

Tried to make and post a video, but making stuff on a computer is not easy for idjuts.
Here is another pic, the guitar top is level, and the jig rotates, the router follows the contour with a light pressure. With no hand pressure the router lifts away. I attempt to keep the router square to the body as the guitar rotates.

_________________
My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.