Binding jig?

ChuckBarnett

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Still on instrument #1 and hopefully I will be addressing binding edges before long. Looks like you can spend $400 for a vertical router holder and jig to hold your ukulele or guitar in. Perhaps there's a better way? How do y'all do it?
 
Don't spend the 400$ yet! Not really needed. I used to just hold the thing in my arms while routing the binding edges and that works fine. This is maybe not the safest way to go but safe enough. Then I decided after an unpleasant experience with a router that got rather rambunctious to build a simple cradle with a piece of scrap plywood and 4 cleats to hold the thing in place. Clamp the thang to bench and go. Cost: $0. Time to build: 20 minutes. Works great. A crude device but it works great. I would send pictures if I could find them. You get the idea.
 
So make the instrument secure and run a router (I picked up a Bosch Colt for this.) as evenly as possible. Does sound simple though I admit it would be scary the first time through.
 
I made mine from a plasma TV swivle bracket...This sort of thing (cheap on eBay) ..then add a couple of drawer slides for the up and down movement.
tv brkt by Ken Timms, on Flickr
 
I made this from drawer runners and scraps lying around, cost about £8 for the runners and £3 for a bearing pulley for the balance weight.P1040187.jpgP1040190.jpgP1040192.jpg
works great
here' the results.
P1040243.jpgP1040251.jpg
 
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I've been using either the StewMac or LIM cutter for 10 years. I have 2 laminate trimmers set up with a cutter in each just to save set up time for the binding and purfling channels, but you can certainly get by with just one and swap out the bearing for the size you need and reset the depth.

I had built and tried a few different arms and cradles to hold laminate trimmer and body, But found that they were more time and space consuming than they were worth. Now I just place the body on the bench and guide the trimmer around by hand. Several hundred instruments now and can't see a need to change.

http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Tools_for_Binding/Binding_Router_Bit.html
 
I made this from drawer runners and scraps lying around, cost about £8 for the runners and £3 for a bearing pulley for the balance weight.View attachment 104350View attachment 104351View attachment 104352
works great
here' the results.
View attachment 104353View attachment 104354

Thank you Mikey and I lust after your system. It is beautiful, but for a beginner doing his/her first binding job might be a bit intimidating. I used to get serviceable binding channels just using my arm pit and a strong left hand. If you are going to build maybe one or two ukuleles, such a system is not necessarily needed to do what is basically a straight forward wood working task.
 
Thanks, all! Great stuff here! Another idea is to skip doing my own thing just yet and find somebody nearby who has a working set-up I can try.

@Sequoia -I appreciate the wisdom in your comments, and in fact I've no idea how far down the luthiery path i will travel. Originally a son said "Dad, lets build guitars." Well that was about as far-fetched a notion as I'd ever heard! But over the past 5 years I've developed a cozy if not crammed shop and earlier this year began this tenor in part because I had some nice wood the right size. But also, in part because if I ruined a ukulele I might not feel as badly as if it was a guitar. (Having put this much time into this one, tho, that may not be the case; hope I don't find out...)

I expect I'll perhaps make a couple more because of all the time it has taken to make template, form, etc. Plus, I still have more wood! But I also have a desire to build guitars -at least a couple. After that... Quién sabe? I'm approaching retirement (I am 66.) and this might just be more than a passing fantasy! And I definitely appreciate this forum and these folks!!!
 
Thank you Mikey and I lust after your system. It is beautiful, but for a beginner doing his/her first binding job might be a bit intimidating. I used to get serviceable binding channels just using my arm pit and a strong left hand. If you are going to build maybe one or two ukuleles, such a system is not necessarily needed to do what is basically a straight forward wood working task.

Hi Sequoia, can I just add that I am a beginner, and that guitar you see is my first and only completed one to date. I made 4 ukes prior to that and on my first uke I routed the channels manually which resulted in slightly uneven binding, so I felt the need to build the jig. It's not sophisticated and quite easy to build, and didn't take too much time.
And you're right, it was intimidating to use for the first time, but plenty of practise on scrap wood was needed before I attacked the guitar body with it. In the end, it was easier to use than doing it manually(with the same router). I would encourage anyone to build one if they didn't want to spend big on a brand model. Cheers Mike.
 
A cheaper alternative is a Schneider gramil <http://www.lmii.com/products/tools-services/binding-tools/schneider-gramil> and a small chisel. There is an hour or so work to cut a binding channel which can be quite satisfying to do. Fine for a few instruments a year, perhaps not very practical for commercial production.

cheers
 
I use Hitachi trimmers (TR-6 & M6SB) fitted with the guide roller accessory. These came via ebay complete with the roller guides for about £40 each. Like Allen, I leave one permanently set up for bindings and the other for purfling, but I managed for years with just the one.

P1080741.jpg P1080740.jpg P1080739.jpg

Cutters are 6mm downcut spirals, and I hold the uke (or guitar) body in the mold on the bench for stability whilst routing.
These routers have angle-adjustable bases to cope with the slope on the back - I angle the base to give me a cut parallel to the sides from the 10 o'clock round to 2 o'clock areas of the upper bout (centre line = 12 o'clock)

I was going to build a jig like Mikes, but I have never had a particular problem with the freehand method, so have shelved the idea for now.
 
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I use a home made tower and a Bosch Colt router. It is one of the scariest parts of uke building for me. Shoving a body I've worked so hard on into a bit spinning 30,000 times a minute. And on my tower, I can't see the contact between bit and body. It's worked flawlessly every time though.
 
Titch you really are pretty funny. ... After all that rigmarole and preparation you can see the screw going in way off angle which pretty much means all that elaborate preparation was for naught. Just drill a straight hole and drive the friggen screw. ... Interesting idea though for scoring lines. This is a useful idea.
 
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