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This won't work on flat tops, though it will work for archtops and any other guitar where the back is parallel to the binding edge.

I setup my Shop Fox pin router with a Stew Mac binding bit and appropriate bearing. Then all I do is set it up to the correct height, and route. This is nice since the carved top really does not factor in at all, the the binding ledge comes out absolutely perfectly.

Anyhow, I haven't really seen this use of a pin router mentioned yet, so I thought I'd put it out there. You can also put pattern bits in there, of course...useful to deepen a pickup pocket, for example, in a carved top electric, deepening neck pockets, etc. Anywhere the back is parallel to the bottom of your cut.

At a guess I would say most guitarmakers do not come from an industrial background, and arent familiar with this kind machinery. You see them in the photos of the vintage factorys, though - great tool.

John,

Make a video, post to youtube, then post it in the tutorial forum. It will get lost in here.

Mike

A pin router will not work on a guitar for binding without some fixturing . To get a good result on acoutic guitars for binding you have to locate off the sides and top . The cutter has to remain parallel to the sides and the depth is related to the top or back so it is a complex geometry

_________________
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'd love to see pictures of your setup as well.

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

You're right. It won't work for flat top acoustics. It only works when the back is parallel to the binding ledge, like a typical carve/flat top electric.

The next time I run one through I will. My next build is a drop top with no binding, so it will be a little while.

Actually you mean when the sides are perpendicular and the back or top parallel if you have any variation the binding will go too deep or be routed at an angle . I have used many a pin router and tried to make one work . there are more efficient ways to do this that a pin router.

_________________
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

Well, shoot John....I don't know why you're giving me grief over this. It will work when the back is parallel to the binding ledge. The bearing on the router bit will follow the side adjacent to the binding channel just as it would with any other router/bearing guided bit mechanism, including the various kinds of binding machines. The only thing that makes this different than any other binding machine, including the parallelogram one, is that the router does not move up and down to follow the edge of the body...and this is no problem if the back is parallel to the binding ledge as it is on many carve top electrics. To say it another way, if you start with a body where the top and back are parallel, and unless your planer is completely screwed up it should be, and then you glue on a top and carve all around to an even thickness at the edges, then this works perfectly well with no additional setup, fixturing or expense. In fact, I even use the bearing bit in the pin router to ESTABLISH the edge thickness of my top carve, just as Benedetto used the Saf-T planer to establish an even edge on his tops in his archtop video.

I think you're thinking of trying to create a binding ledge using an undersized pin on the pin router, and then you need to worry about the perpendicular sides, but that's not at all what I'm doing.

So I guess my point is that you don't have to use the pin with the pin router. You can stick bearing bits in there and that opens up a whole world of routing possibilities when you need to work with non flat surfaces, including deepening neck cavities, routing pickup cavities, and things like that. It's not a technique that I can remember ever seeing mentioned, so I thought I'd mention it. Whatever. I find it useful.

I can agree to that point just be careful . When you look at a Les Paul they are done in a similar fashion . On a steel string you may have issues . I don't mean to be giving you a hard time but I have uses a number of tools for binding and had issues . Keep your pinkies out of the sharp stuff .

_________________
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