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I’m considering pulling the trigger on one of these. Anyone here using one? How long did it take to get used to it? Setup looks dead simple.

I’ve been using the SM tower for the last 12 years. It works well enough. The rub with it is the $75 price tag of the proprietary replacement cutter. It should cost half that given the quality.

Thoughts? M

I am very happy with mine.

For me it's much simpler,easier to switch from size to size which I am constantly doing.

There is a learning curve.....

So far I have routed about 10 channels and I think I have the hang of it.

I couldn’t get the hang of it. Lots of people seem to love it and as with anything coming from Chris it’s super well made.

I’ve tried just about all of them including the Luthiertool handheld deal. I ended up back at the LMI tower jig. I haven’t used the new Allied jig.


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we sell them and the bits our replacement bits can be found under $20
I used about all binding machines out there. I prefer the Williams Fleishman unit

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

I borrowed one from a buddy because I needed deeper channels than the SM one could make. I think it is super well made and the setup is super simple. I found the actual routing to be very tedious and stressful. There is lots to be aware of when holding your guitar on the jig. Take that for what it's worth, I only did one guitar tho.

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-Marcus
http://www.bailieguitars.com
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Is there something about the SM tower beside the cost of the cutter that you are looking to improve on? If there is, maybe people who have used the Elevate tool could weigh in on that in particular.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

Hi Jay,

Actually my SM setup works great - I’m just tired of getting dinged for the replacement cutters.

M

I bought the Elevate mainly because I thought it would be cheaper to replace router bits. I had been using the LMI tower (with some field modifications) for the last 18 years and it worked fine, but like you mentioned replacing bits was expensive. I also had a double parallelogram jig made by a British luthier I used for archtops.

I did several guitars with the Elevate jig but decided to go back to the tower. There seemed to be to big a chance to inadvertently slightly scallop the edge of the cut if your technique was not well honed.

Interestingly I had a kid spend some time in my shop who graduated from the Red Wing MN lutherie program and worked two years in the binding dept. of Santa Cruz guitars.

He said they would cut binding channels on a device just like the Elevate jig and cut the purfling channels on a tower jig. Any slight scalloping of the binding channel from inadvertent tilting would be taken care of by the purfling cut and expensive bearing guided router bits lasted a lot longer just making the purfling cut.

That could be an option. For me I just went back to the tower

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

I used knives and chisel on my archtop, and the SM Dremel thing on a little Stauffer model. I know nothing! I have seen videos of contraptions with routers going around the top. They looked scary and intimidating to me. I watched the guy on Driftwood Guitars using the Elevate Tool thing, and everything about it made sense to me.

He made it look as easy as brushing your teeth. It looked so simple that I looked it up. Pricey for a guy used to hand tools, but man did it look easy and intuitive. If I was going to make a few guitars a year with binding, it would be a no brainer for me.

The other ones just looked way too complicated. I like simple.

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Why be normal?

I really like the concept of the jig, especially not having to deal with bearings, but the idea of using it gives me the willies. It just seems like there's too much freedom for movement of the body in directions you wouldn't want while cutting. I like that a body sitting in a cradle on the benchtop is very restricted in which direction it can move relative to the bit. Only into the bit and back out. It's very controllable and no tilting or rotating of the guitar body relative to the bit is possible (unless you do something really really wrong, I guess). Using my tower setup is completely stress-free. Watching the channel cutting part of the video makes me think I would be stressed out using the Elevate jig. Maybe with use, it would turn out to be ok though.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I also like a tower setup better than anything else, but the worst guitar building snafu I ever had was during a binding channel cutting session. In retrospect, I know what happened; I didn't hang onto the body tight enough, and during one of the climb cuts, the body got away from me. The bit climbed up and ruined the back. But after a brief and manic temper tantrum, I was able to replace the back easily enough and move on. My point is that, while I like tower setups the best, they still need attention, or things can go wrong.

I’ve never used a jig. I use a bearing guided binding cutting bit on a laminate trimmer with a donut base and cut freehand. I keep the router vertical in line with the guitar sides as I go around always cutting from wide to narrow. It’s easy, it works, and there are no extra big tools to find a storage place for. Try it on a mockup and see if it can work for you. A trimmer that is easy to hold and control is useful. Cutting with your forearm resting on the guitar also helps in guiding and controlling.

Early on, I tried using a bearing guide in the trimmer so that I could use a spiral bit. It was harder to get consistent results with that setup.

I’m afraid to try one of the jigs because if it works better than what I do, I’d have to find storage for the rotary table and the jig.

I managed to get a used Elevate jig. It’s well made and works as advertised but it does take some practice. I’ve successfully done 3 guitars with it. I’m probably going to go back to my cradle/tower jig because it’s difficult for me to sit bent over which is what is needed with the Elevate jig if you clamp it down at bench height.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Love mine , Yes there is a learning curve but i found it much easier than the way I was doing it

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The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
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Cool.

Don't mock, but to date I've owned the Williams, new LMI, LuthierTool, Canadian Luthier Supply, and Elevate.

I feel the most comfortable on the Kett style jig. Build quality on the Canadian Luthier Supple and Elevate is fantastic, but the Elevate has a quicker setup and doesn't require you to keep a handful of machined aluminum guides labeled and organized.

I haven't found it difficult to keep the body stable on them at all, and using the tool feels pretty natural to me.

I bought a piece of aluminum and made the clamping arm longer , so now I can sit and the cutter is at eye level + or - and its been easier for sure

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The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Might be an option, my back, and everything else, is not as flexible as it was.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I don't know how the other videos are, but this one shows it being very comfortable.

https://youtu.be/8sPcyLOc3Nw

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Why be normal?

He is watching from the top. Myself I like to see from below, therefore i get it up higher ...... Just me

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

The Elevate jig with the solid guide accessory is useful for instruments that are too thin for the one from Canadian Luthier Supply.

yep

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I've just never been able to get comfortable with jigs like the Elevate--seems like a superior solution, but like Steve says, my back isn't what it once was. I've used a bunch of different jigs, but I'm currently using an Elmer Guitar StewMac knockoff that I've retrofit with a counter balance spring like the LMI tower has. Happy so far.

Dave

I’ve probably cut at least 150 guitars with the Elevate jig and prior to that I used the Kett jig. The Elevate is similar to the Kett but with several improvements. Prior to the Kett I’ve owned every jig that came on the market plus a few home made ones. For me, the Kett and Elevate are the two best I’ve used to date. I’ve replaced the Elevate bit four times with sub $10 Grizzly router bits which work just fine.

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tim...
http://www.mcknightguitars.com