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It's time to bind my guitar and I didn't have a jig to do this so I built one. I didn't want to purchase the expensive bit&bearing sets LMI and SM sell so I decided to go with a design that didn't need a bit with bearings.

I liked some things about the jig Rod True built......simple and easy to adjust. It looks like this:



But I decided I wanted to hold the guitar horizontally while routing.....so I thought I would do something similar, but turned horizontally. I also like Ken Cierp's idea (I assume it's his) of laying the guitar on foam which you compress down against the jig while routing so I thought I would incorporate that technique.

I also wanted to make the jig fit the base recess in my router table. My router table looks like this:



So, I made these parts:



And here are the assembled pictures. I haven't used it yet so it may be a piece of junk. Let me know what you think will work well and what may give me problems. You loosen the two bolts in the fence, adjust the fence using the knob on back of the jig, then retighten the bolts locking the fence in place.

Front Shot:


Side Shot Showing Adjustment Knob (A Fender volume knob):


Top Shot:


Bottom View Without Trim Router:


Side Shot With Router Attached:


Bottom View With Trim Router Attached:

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Now I understand why I have never tried to bind an instrument.

Bob

Neat microadjust. I use a similar fence-type system on a hand held version with a no-bearing spiral downcut bit. You'll want to practice to make sure you can keep the entire fence bearing against the side at all times to prevent tipping into the bit and making divots. I'm not sure how you would ensure that using the foam sled method, but it's not too hard to get the hang of with the hand-held version.

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Evan McCartney

I've already found a couple of things I need to correct.

First, the taper at the front of the jig should end at the back of the bit......not the front of the bit like it is now. This won't be too difficult to fix.

Second, I cut the threaded rod for the adjustment a little short. I think I will replace it with a standard 1/4-20 bolt......it requires a 7/16" wrench to loosen the fence screws before adjusting, so I might as well use the same wrench to adjust the fence. Plus, the length of the wrench may give me more control of the adjustment.

Evan, I copied the micro adjustment off the Wells/Karol circle cutting jig.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

Darryl,

It looks good. I will be interested to hear how you like holding the guitar flat like that against the bit. I have never seen a binding jig work like that. I built a little hand held jig (I had built a full size too) that I am happy with that uses a piece of whatever you are cutting to set the depth. It has worked really well for me. Your microadjust looks nice too.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

I've done something very similar. It takes a bit of practice, but what doesn't? Thinking I'm being very careful, I'm always surprised that some parts of the cut are shallow, but a couple of careful passes and I've got a nice, consistent channel. If I ever become a pro I'll build one of the fancy telescoping set-ups, but this is how they do it at Taylor, and I imagine that if you do it more than once every few months like I do, you may not need anything else.

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Gabriel Regalbuto
Carlsbad, California
Freedom 35!

Hey, that looks like a mix of my mandolin and guitar binding jigs!

Guitar binding jig






Mandolin binding jig


I tried orienting the guitar binding jig so the instrument would be oriented horizontally, but I didn't really like it. Since the sides need to be registered against the bearings at all times, I find it easier to hold the instrument upright, and let gravity help. With mandolins, where the sides are equally wide all around, I find it quite easy to guide the instrument with my hands, using the table top as a reference to keep the instrument horizontally. That means I only need one reference point for the sides with this jig, no need for foam or anything else.

That's just my experience though, let's know how you like your method once you try it on an instrument!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Yap all this stuff looks like the guts of a rocket, but you can do the job with a simple gramil and chisel too.

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Build log

Both of you bring up good points. I'm hoping that placing the body on 1" thick foam will essentially hold the guitar for me. I would use foam roughly 1" thick so I will need to push down and depressing the foam to keep the body in contact with the base of the jig. If I get in trouble, just release and the foam should pull the body away from the bit. Hopefully, the foam will stabilize the body helping me keep the sides in contact with the fence. But it's all speculation.......I haven't tried it yet.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

'Everything old is new again', as someone said.
From David Russell Young's book (1975)..he calls it a 'shaper table' but it's a router table. I used a setup like this and it worked OK, though I now use a Wells/Karol-type jig and a guitar 'vise'.
Cheers
John

Really?

Mike-
What does the 'Really?' refer to .....
Perhaps I'm mis-naming the Wells/Karol jig?
Anyway, it's a hand-held jig that indexes against the guitar side, used 'horizontally' with the guitar held in a (Wells?) pipe-clamp-based guitar vise.

John

John, I like that setup a lot. About as simple and easy as any I've seen.

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Formerly known as Adaboy.......

I did not know it was called that... just getting my terms straight. In fact I did not know WK had a jig for that.

Thanks, Darryl-
I had some bronze shafting in the 'scrap box' (from a boat project) and it really helps to counterbalance the weight of the laminate trimmer.
It seems to work OK, though I still find binding one of the trickier steps.

Cheers
John