I just finished making a binding machine so I thought I'd post a few photos in case I had any ideas that might be useful to others.
First off, it's a machine that I think was originated by Dan Fobert. I learned about it right here when Wes McMillian posted photos of his machine in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=18515&hilit=+binding+machine+
Wes was kind enough to answer a few questions I had along the way building this thing. Thanks Wes!
OK, here is the first photo just to remind you of what it looks like:
Where the original plans called for 3/8" rod thread at each end, I just used a 3/8" wood screw into wood. Seems to work OK.
This second photo is primarily to show you how I attached the router to the arm. I made a couple of cradles from poplar, lined them with cork and clamped the router in place with a hose clamp. There are a couple of reasons I chose this method: I wanted to be able to get the router on and off easily (I'm not sure why) and secondly, I liked the idea of having the router drop lower than the arms to provide more clearance.
The third photo shows the business end of things while on the guitar. I have the router bit and bearing set from LMI.
The fourth photo is again about the business end. The home made black router plate is a piece of ebony left over from a fret board. The doughnut is a hardwood that has about a quarter inch of flat before curving up.
Fifth photo shows that the doughnut started life as a 2" diameter cupboard knob that I got from Home Depot. I put a flat on the top and trimmed off the bottom to save what I wanted for the doughnut. I glued it to the ebony then drilled a one inch hole through them both.
The sixth picture is to show the arm stretch out to reach the far side of the guitar. For reference, the boards for the arm above its elbow are 18" long and the boards for the arm below the elbow are 16" long. You need about 40" worth of table for the set up.
The seventh and last photo shows one of the features I really like about this machine is the way it folds up and kind of tucks away when not in use.
Total cost for the machine was around $60.00. It's amazing the way all the little bits and pieces add up. I haven't used it in earnest yet, I've just been doing non-power runs around the guitar to see how it feels. I see no reason why it shouldn't work fine. I don't intend to build a cradle - my plans are to remount the guitar in my external form to get it all square and clamp that to the table.
Hope this was of use to some people who might be thinking about building a binding machine.
Pat
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