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What do you guys use to cut the rabbet joint on your F-style mandolins? Can you use a Williams binding jig or is it better to use the Binding Router Guide from Stew-Mac?

Hutch

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Chuck,
I sold my stewmac binding router guiede a few years ago in one of the swaps. Many folks to just fine with it. To me it was neither powerful nor stable enough to do the job. The power issue wasn't the cutter as much the dremel.

I do it with my Ribbecke style jig. I don't hold the mando down on a sled but hold and feed it by hand.

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Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

No F-style in these pictures, but here’s my setup for cutting binding rabbets on mandolins. An F-style requires a some additional hand guided chisel work, of course... I do this on the router table, with a shop made fixture. I used to use a the binding cutter from Stewmac, but this system allows me to use a ¼” downcut spiral bit, which cuts much cleaner.






Here’s a closer look. The bottom part of the jig is screwed solidly down in holes that tapped into the the steel plate that holds the router. The part with the router bit protruding from it is where the top will be resting when I cut, and this elevates the instrument off the table enough so its arched plate won’t interfere with the angle of the cut. The top part can be slid in and out for different binding widths, and is secured with the wing nut.






Action! I should probably drill out the hole for the bit some more to make dust collection more efficient... I’m doing the cutting in about 3 passes, taking only about 0.7 mm per pass, to avoid any unpleasantries.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Arnt... Nice!

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Chris Oliver
Infinity Luthiers
...in the shop.

live every minute...

Our friend Arnt not only builds nice instruments. He builds very nice tools, jigs and fixtures, too. Furthermore, he is really good at photographing all this. (Arnt, are you getting some photo help from your wife? If so, let's credit her work, too. I ask this question only because I have seen BOTH of your hands in numerous photos in your posts.) Lastly, he is very generous about sharing his solutions with all the rest of us.

That's a very nice set up, Arnt. I always enjoy your posts and the threads you launch. I learn so much from them, and your work inspires me.

Lurkers who have never worked with a table-mounted router should understand that Arnt's set up will require some patience and practice. Note that he is very experienced, yet he still takes numerous shallow passes to get the channel just right. You people must remember to go slow and easy with your routs, and above all, be aware of where your fingers are in relation to that spinning bit at all times.

Patrick

Patrick, thanks for all the nice words. About the pictures; some time ago I got a tripod and a remote control (with a delay function) for my camera, so lately I've taken my pictures all by my lonesome.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Thank you fellers for your input. Arnt, you never cease to amaze me. Thank you guys for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

I'm just getting in a router-lift type thing in my tablesaw extension. So I see one of Arnt's cool jigs in my future. Just a thought on bits though. In the past when doing the cuts by hand with the StewMac doodad I use a carbide rotary-file or Burr and take small passes. I'm thinking that could be used here too to avoid any tear-out or surprises. Then you could just set the final depth from the get go and just work slowly down to it. I'm also thinking of some sort of micro-adjust on the slider part and maybe some marks to help with adjustments. I personally need that sort of thing

Alan D.

Arnt,
That's a very elegant and simple approach. Ingenious! It appears that you hold the body and guide it along its path by hand. If so, how do you keep from tipping the body slightly as you move it, thereby creating uneven channel depths or widths? Perhaps this is where your greater experience and skill comes in. :-) Do you have to keep the body pressed against the sliding top part of the jig? (There's a small gap there in the third "action" photo.)

I always have a hard time keeping the cutting tool uniformly positioned, so I'm curious to learn how others achieve more satisfactory results.

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George :-)

I use a method like Arnt's but from above ( the router is jiged )with the follower supplied with the router. The top is cut without the back on, the rim sits flat on the table. The back is cut while the top sits in a sled. It must be said that the body must stay radial to the cutter or you get a lopsided cut. It's not so bad on the big curves but the tight ones are critical. I started doing this on my purfling only mandos, any deviation was very bad. I warmed up with some chipboard tops.I haven't done any binding this way yet but I'll use c.b. first.

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Regards from RangeView, Bill

George, I simply use the knuckles of the hand that holds the instrument against the table top as a "depth guide". Originally, I used some spool clamps that had the same height as the lower part of the jig to elevate the instrument to the correct height (as shown in Stewmac's instructions for cutting a binding ledge with a router table, using their binding cutter sethttp://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Routing/Binding_Router_Bit_and_Bearings/Binding_Router_Bit_Set.html?tab=Instructions#details), but I found that process somewhat slow and unnecessarily cumbersome. One reason this method works so well for mandolins and other archtop instruments is that their sides usually are equally deep all around (not counting the scroll); just keep the instrument at the right height in relation to the cutter and level with the table at all times, and the ledge should be fine.



Yes, the instrument is pressed against the stop, which determines the width of the ledge (the gap happened because I was holding the instrument while taking the photo with the other hand... )

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Thanks, Arnt. That's a pretty slick method and your instruments are always so beautifully well-crafted that it obviously works like a charm.

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George :-)

Arnt, I like this jig and I hope you won’t mind if I use your idea. It is simple yet looks very effective.
It has been said that “mimicry is the highest form of compliment. “
My compliments,
Joe H.

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Joe

My wife asks me "How many Guitars do you need?"
I reply "When I die count them; thats how many I needed".