Router, dremel, laminate trimmer for trimming tops and cutting binding channels

Matt Clara

Matt Clara

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Most of the videos I've seen of people trimming tops or otherwise working directly on the body of the instrument involved the use of laminate trimmers or dremel tools with router adapters attached to them--essentially something small, easily hand held and with good visibility. Do people also use plain old routers, or are those too big / indelicate for the job?
 
I saw a video of a guy using a router mounted upside down and with a spacer to trim his top after he joined it to the body.
 
I think the problem is that standard table routers work from the bottom up, and hand held routers are too big to navigate around body parts such as the neck. Smaller, hand held tools seem to do better.

I didn't have much luck with the Stew Mac Dremel binding attachment though. I couldn't hold it steady enough by hand to insure a perfectly vertical cut as I went around the body.
 
I'm a big fan of the laminate trimmer. I can use it with one hand while holding the body steady and it has enough power to cut the channel in one pass. Making new base plates is easy so you have alot of options for edge guides.
I find dremmels just don't have the power to do the whole channel in one pass. More passes is just more ways to screw up.
You can certainly use a full size router....I've done it on guitar bodies before Holding the uke is harder because you need two hands on the router and there's not much body that isn't covered by the base plate. Solve that problem and its fine.
 
DaveVisi said:
I think the problem is that standard table routers work from the bottom up, and hand held routers are too big to navigate around body parts such as the neck. Smaller, hand held tools seem to do better.

I didn't have much luck with the Stew Mac Dremel binding attachment though. I couldn't hold it steady enough by hand to insure a perfectly vertical cut as I went around the body.
Click to expand...

Did you have the StewMac precision routing base, too? Shtuff get's spendy, quick.
 
I mount my laminate trimmer upside down in my parrot vise if just trimming the top flush with the side along with trimming the headstock overlay and fretboard flush with the neck. I use it freehand if doing a binding channel. I also made an overhead router mount when I first started building but haven't used it much. I just got a balance arm and am going to set it up with a laminate trimmer to do my binding channels.
 
All of these extra attachments come out of the need to keep the channel square with the side, but not necessarily square with the top/back (because the top and especially the back of an instrument aren't flat or square with the side). There are two main methods for doing this, both involving a sled for the instrument and a special base for the router:

One involves keeping the router stationary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve_PmQMSnQQ

And the other keeps the instrument stationary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lan2pKWE1Do

But it's the same idea. If you're building a cigar box instrument that has a flat top and bottom, it's unnecessary - a router table is probably the best tool for the job.
 
thistle3585 said:
I mount my laminate trimmer upside down in my parrot vise if just trimming the top flush with the side along with trimming the headstock overlay and fretboard flush with the neck. I use it freehand if doing a binding channel. I also made an overhead router mount when I first started building but haven't used it much. I just got a balance arm and am going to set it up with a laminate trimmer to do my binding channels.
Click to expand...

I'm probably either going to get a router, or just get routing accessories to go with my dremel. Given those two choices, what would you go with?
 
mattclara said:
I'm probably either going to get a router, or just get routing accessories to go with my dremel. Given those two choices, what would you go with?
Click to expand...

I bought a cheap laminate trimmer at Menards for no more than $35. It has worked flawlessly through 40+ instruments and several home remodeling projects. If you buy a Dremel you can get a tap and make your own routing bases using thick plexiglass. I made a duplicarver for my Dremel, which is a knockoff brand, thinking I'd use it for inlay but only used it once. You can remove the protector on the end and thread it into the base.

I have a woodworking business, so I have my fair share of routers, but when building instruments I reach for this one the most. You can see the simple adjustment.
 

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My very humble advice is to skip the binding on your first few ukuleles. Concentrate on making them sound good. Then make them pretty later.

And the hand tool method to trimming the top and back. Yes to all three, saw, then plane, then sand. At least that is how I did my first few.

Take care, and good luck,
Thomas
 
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I have about 5 laminate trimmers all dedicated to specific binding tasks and 2 dedicated to trimming. Chuck out any idea of getting a dremmel unless you are considering doing inlay. The only other thing I use my dremel for is notching the linings for the braces.
 
I've had good luck with a Bosch Colt router, plenty of power but still small and easy to work with with one or two hands. I only use my Dremel for inlays, even with a router base it just doesn't seem solid enough.
 
The bearings are shot on my dremel so it shakes like mad when I use it but I AM STRONGER AND IT DOES MY WILL! :cool:
 
Pete Howlett said:
I have about 5 laminate trimmers all dedicated to specific binding tasks and 2 dedicated to trimming. Chuck out any idea of getting a dremmel unless you are considering doing inlay. The only other thing I use my dremel for is notching the linings for the braces.
Click to expand...

I already have a dremel is all, and there are a ton of little accessories for this kind of work, but I don't want to use it if it's not the right tool for the job, and I especially don't want to spend money on accessories if they won't help me get it done.

Thanks, I'm looking at laminate trimmers.
Matt

and no, I don't intend to do binding for my first couple ukes, but I'd rather get one tool to do both jobs, than to find I have to buy something later when it could have done everything if only I'd gotten it first.
 
Cheap and cheerful for occasional use eBay bargains:

140350504227 - I have these and they are good
380165389748 - the chinese copy of the above?
200390622288 - another Makita
150378188782 - DeWalt - always a good buy
300354170220 - Don't know this product but I want one!
 
Don't listen to those Dremel-phobes. I couldn't build without my Dremels. It has it's place. I use it probably 10 to 20 times a day. The cordless one rocks.
And I agree with Thomas; skip the binding and concentrate on the sound until you get a better handle on it. Pretty should never upstage function.
 
Tell the truth Chuck - you use it for inlay work exclusively don't you? None of us could do without one for this work but anything else it really struggles with. I'm not a dremel-phobe - it's a one trick pony like a lot of our tools.
 
Inlay work? I never thought of using it for that! Sounds like you're accusing me of being less than truthful Pete.
It's indispensable for little jobs like drilling holes for tuners, polishing frets, installing pickups, drilling holes for bridge location, trimming binding and purfling, cutting side sound ports, cutting the binding channel on the heel end of a cutaway, cutting a .004" rosette channel (try that with a router!) and dozens of other tasks. Like admitting to watch reality TV shows, it's fashionable to put down the Dremel as rubbish. I'm a fan of both!
The Dremel I really like is the pistol grip cordless one. And they're total junk! I've gone through three of them within the past two years but they get used a lot. (The transformers go out because of my solar power system.)
I've got usual dozen odd routers and trimmers that everyone else has that do some jobs like no other tool can, but the portable Dremel is always close by.
The bottom line is, in order to be efficient, you need every kind of rotary tool available.
 
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