Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Folks. Can anyone please advise on the best tool to use for the purfling and binding chanels? I have only made one other guitar so I am a complete novice. I used a Dremel the first time but felt a little under powered. Also it felt like there was too much room for error in it's stability on the side of the guitar. I dont mind spending a bit of money, within reason. Probably upto £150.
Thanks in advance of any advice available.
Gary

Garry, I am a newbie too but after a lot of reading I decided I am going to build a williams/fleischman jig for binding. The tower style apparently works very well also. Most use a laminate trimmer fastened to one of these jigs, I bought a dewalt 670 which comes with an adjustable bearing guide, but I hear the Bosch Colt and Porter Cable 310 are good as well.
Here is a really good thread on the subject:
http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopi ... an#p198518

Good luck!

I missed out on a chance to get a biding jig this week for free


I am looking for a down bit cutter that takes bearings in the UK, does anyone know where you can get these from or if it has a more "technical" name as general searches on DIY and specialist tool sites comes up trumps.

What ever binding fixture you purchase or build get the LMI bearing and cutter set. I used them on my last 2 guitars and it is a joy to use. I purchased the Stewmac True channel fixture and have used it on 4 guitars and am quite pleased with it.

Fred

_________________
Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Gary,

I'm in the same boat as you......considering how and what I want to use for cutting binding channels.

I like the WF jig.......but I don't like needing to buy a $100+ router bit and bearing set to use it. I already have a Porter Cable 310 router so whatever I come up with needs to use that router.

I'm thinking of building something along the lines of what Rod True built (he has shown pics here before). Maybe he will post pics of his setup and let us know how the pros and cons of using it. You can by a single router bit (downcut spiral or whatever) and cut any size slot so the investment is minimized. I like it better than the router attachments I've seen that are used freehand.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Ditto on the LMI cutter set. The Tom Ribbecke universal binding machine works great. It's available at LMI. You can also buy the plans and build your own for a lot less. This is what I did - I highly recommend.

Hi Gary,

Router bits and bearings can be had via;

Bits;

http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Onl ... s_212.html

A down shear bit will give a cleaner edge in much the same way as a down cut spiral bit.

Bearings covering most increments you'll need;

http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/mor ... 1704s.html

I've no complaints regarding service, etc. of any of the companies listed.

A very reasonable router - definitely not under powered and including an edge guide among it's fairly comprehensive kit - can be had via Axminster Tools;

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Bosc ... 781470.htm

Added together, pricing may prove a little higher than your intended £150 if you buy every single bearing, but trimming the list down to suit sizes needed for the purfling and banding dimensions you'll be using will keep you within budget.

Both companies will send catalogue and price lists if you wish to study things more closely at your leisure.

Adding a collet reduction sleeve to your kits (Available from Wealden http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Onl ... s_166.html) will enable you to use 3.2mm shank down cut spiral bits with the above router when you cut your soundhole, rings and inlays.

Down cut bits can be sourced via:

http://www.smallwonder-music.co.uk/shop ... p-123-454/

or if you chose to use the same bits while using your Dremel a simple, but effective radius guide can be had via;

http://dremel-direct.com/acatalog/Dreme ... utter.html

I hope this helps

P.S.

Just to add, you don't need all of the bells and whistles in order to make a good job, but having the right tools for the job certainly helps make life far easier. Especially if you intend to build more than two or three instruments.

What model Dremel tool do you have, that felt underpowered? I was planning to buy the 300 model (variable speed, not cordless), but considering the 10.8V cordless one.

My plan is to get the Stewmac Dremel router base set with the edge guide and everything. The router bits with bearings do look great, but too expensive for me as well. The Stewmac base is nice because I can also use it for cutting inlay cavities, truss rod slots and saddle slots.

Does anyone have opinions on that router base for all those operations? It will be about $170 including the Dremel tool. Would I be better off buying a laminate trimmer instead? It looks like the price would be about the same, unless I gamble on the $64 Porter-Cable laminate trimmer on amazon, but I always worry that cheap tools are cheap for a reason.

Hi,

Stewmac's router base and add-on's work perfectly well, but a laminate trimmer or router has more power and is capable of handling a wider variety of work. Especially in terms of routing truss rod channels, contouring headstocks, as well as banding/purfling rebates, soundhole cut-outs and rosettes. IMHO If possible buy a laminate trimmer with a bearing based edge guide included and you can use normal straight router bits for banding and purfling, as the edge guide is adjustable for cut depth and lateral travel. Making a simple circle cutting jig for rosette and soundhole work overcomes that aspect of the build and a suitable collet reduction sleeve allows you to use smaller shanked down cut spiral bits for fuzz free routing.

I used the Dremel tool and Stewmac base and add on bearing once and it is not very good. The router base is great for other things but the binding attachment is a total waste of time. I made a different dremel based jig for the second guitar that had a couple bearings riding on the sides to keep it vertical while doing the back, but it was not that accurate,and I still had a lot of hand work to clean and adjust the channel to fit the binding.

On my third build I got the True channel from Stewmac and it was a breeze to use, and I actually enjoyed doing the binding instead of being stressed out. I borrowed the cutters and bearings from a friend for that build and ordered the LMI set for the next. I actually look forward to doing binding now and it comes out way better with a lot less work and time.



Fred

_________________
Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

I just built an inexpensive version of a binding router tower. It is loosely based on the LMII plans. Used it yesterday to cut my 00 kit binding slots. Works great.

Just to update re cutter sets, Stewmac has replaced their (nonsensical) bearing sets that "corrected" for glue expansion (NOT), with ones that cut the actual dimension, just like LMI's. So the, the .060" bearing cuts an .060" rabbet, not an .072" like before.

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Dave
Milton, ON

Just to say thankyou to all who contributed to my question. Stacks to go at.
It looks as if I will be making a binding jig as well as a guitar. I hope every visit does'nt
result in more work for me!!!
Cheers.............Gary