DB's binding jig

[WeirdBits]

Great little trimmers, I wouldn't be without mine.

[Simon Barden]

I guess you'd just have to make the cantilever arm and slide out of much thicker material. Also, the closer in you can get the router to the upright, the less wobble there will be. I would have thought you could move the router much further in for most binding jobs. The only time it will need to be out further is for routing out the inside edges of body horns/cutaways.

Incidentally, until the demise of the LP Standard in 1960, the original Les Paul's binding followed the curve of the top in the cutaway. So you always got a section of the maple cap showing, like this:



Only after the reintroduction of the Les Paul to the Gibson line in 1968, did the binding start following the line of the maple cap in this area. Even now, it's only the historic style Les Paul reissues that are produced with the top curve-following binding.

[wokkaboy]

cool Simon didn't know that !

@ Marcel no worries as long as you thing the jig is safe to use. As Simon suggested would be less movement of the router the closer it is to the support post

[Marcel]

The jig is as safe (and solid) as any router can be. Without hacking up the guide that came with the router there is not much chance of getting it closer to the upright post. The 2mm thick Uni-strut is very solid with two 10mm bolts holding it up and another two 10mm bolts holding onto the 5mm thick outrigger. The router has its standard 6mm bolt holding the L bracket to it within some vertical guides that are part of the router, and the L bracket and the outrigger are held fast with another two 6mm bolts. It aint moving, and if it gets loose I'll know a long long time before things start falling on the floor. The rope just steadies the top of the router motor from minor flexing of the L bracket and outrigger structure when the job is in contact with the router bit. Minor height adjustments can still easily be made via the lock clamp and toothed adjustment wheel on the front of the router. If major changes in height are needed then the rope comes off and the outrigger height is changed to suit the new needed height.

The Makita model router/edge trimmer I'm using has speed control built in. Varies the bit speed from 10k to 30k rpm. Around 14k to 16k seems the best speed for the bit I'm currently using. The bit is a two 12mm blade 35mm with a 29mm bearing so I get a 3mm rebate. Really I need a 30.4mm bearing to get the rebate the perfect depth for how I want to do this binding job. There are a few local places near here I can go to get what I'm after.

I probably should have included the Tele body in the photos. The table is 600mm wide by 450mm deep so there is enough space either side of the router to comfortably rest a guitar body.