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Very cheaply made and simple. I had stewmac's truechannel in mind, so it will have a plywood base and of course a guitar vise. A quick note, the drawer slides do have a little play and allows the router to move from left to right slightly, but it stays square. Please let me know what problems you see with it.

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Bro. Matthew A.
Oklahoma

I'm guessing that the wing nuts on the top of the nose rounded guide block, (the part that your hand is holding), allows you to adjust the channel width instead of using different roller guides on the router bit. My concern is the depth of the block,... if you are using the usual cradle to maneuver the guitar. Will you have enough clearance to avoid knocking the cradle's adjustable clamps which hold up the guitar?

Hope I'm making sense,

Bill S.

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Dream to be a luthier

I'm guessing that you are not going to use the router bit with bearings and that you'll change the cut depth by moving the router in and out, with the guitar pushing against that radiused piece below the router. If so, you must have your guitar be perpendicular to the cutter at all times or your depth of cut will vary. This can make your bindings change thickness and look pretty bad. Be careful with that.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Yes, you are making perfect sense. I thought of that and will try to build a cradle with shorter vertical pieces. We will see. And yes you are correct about the wing nuts, that part of the jig is a Kenneth michael binding jig. I just don't want to hold the router anymore and thought I might still be able to use the thing.

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Bro. Matthew A.
Oklahoma

It looks much like mine except I used wooden drawer slides and a threaded insert and threaded rod to as a minimum height stop.

Nice design.

Bob

Thanks for the tip Steve! I will have to practice a lot with it. I know it stays square at all times, but, correct me if I'm wrong, it looks like the stewmac jig moves up and down freely, correct? So, I think as long as it is square with the guitar it should be fine (me thinking out loud).

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Bro. Matthew A.
Oklahoma

Do you have any pics? Does yours have any play concerning the slides ( like left to right)?

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Bro. Matthew A.
Oklahoma

I'm not to wild about the router part. It's hard enought to adjust the bearing for the depth of cut and to adjust the router by hand looks like it's going to be time consuming to me. I think you should have went more with the LMI design. But that's just me.

From the pictures it looks like you have quite a large footprint riding on the top of the guitar. Check out some other designs to add a "donut". Also, I added a counter weight to the back of my tower so the router assembly would move easier vertically. clinton

Check out Chris Paulick's excellent video tut. on how to build one.

Bill S.

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Dream to be a luthier

using a stop isn't as accurate as using the true pilot bearings. I can't tell you how many binding jigs I have seen. The best ones that have the best repeatability use some kind of parallel mechanism . You also need a way to reduce the amount of location points the ride the top and back. More so on the back as the radius and slant will through things off square if not planned for

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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

John -

I don't doubt your experience, but I'm curious if you have any idea why the parallel mechanism ones would be most repeatable. I've been using a homemade version of the vertical slide like Stew Mac's. I used 80/20 extrusions and linear bearings, so it's nice and tight. I've been really happy with it. Of course, the last two I bound gave me fits, but the channels were great. I think the problem was me and my gluing and taping. I've used your jig at Red Rocks with Robbie and it does works great, but in my mind, all those pivots should make it sloppier, not better.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Can you make margaritas and other mixed drinks with it, to sip while you're working on your guitars?
I'll take a mudslide, if you have time in between guitars.....

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Old growth, shmold growth!

The end result is what matters. A good process is repeatable and that is what matters . Having used the tower for the first 75 guitars I find that having the router in the hand gives you one more input . With the tower you push the guitar under the router and with the arm you control the router with your hand .

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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

does this look better?

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Bro. Matthew A.
Oklahoma