Re: Cutting a binding channel
I guess we all prefer to use whatever tools we are most comfortable with. I make mostly guitars, so it is natural for me to try to adapt some of the techniques and procedures that I'm used to from guitar making when I make the occasional mandolin. Routers, and especially laminate trimmers, have many uses in guitar making, and it is common among guitar makers to have quite a few of them, set up for special tasks. When the Bosch Colt laminate trimmer, which is really a relatively light weight, powerful compact router, came out about 10 years ago, it seemed about perfect for lots of guitar making tasks. So I bought I bought 5 of them, and they now all have their bases permanently mounted to various jigs and fixtures. The trimmers all have different bits, and since they can be removed from their bases, I sometimes switch them around between bases(jigs) if I need a different bit for a special operation, rather than change the bit.
My binding jig is a parallel arm type contraption, which moves the router at a fixed vertical axis, and it is mounted on a cradle that can be adjusted to hold a guitar body in the proper position for routing. For mandolins, I had been using a Dudenbostel style jig on my router table, with spool clamps to hold the instrument level, but on my most recent mandolins, I got the idea to see how the guitar binding jig would work. The guitar holding cradle can’t be adjusted for a body that small, but since I attach mandolin necks Siminoff style (before binding), the neck makes a fine handle to clamp the instrument in a vise. The results are fine, and very predictable. I store this whole thing on the wall when not in use, and just clamp it to the bench when I need it, so there is not set up time to speak of. I probably wouldn't build something like this just for mandolins, the more compact jigs that have been mentioned work just fine, but if you have one laying around...
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Originally Posted by kkmm
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