Binding Router Guide

I am not happy with this tool.
1. This tool very much not convenient, it is difficult to expose the necessary parameters.
2. The worst in it that the six-sided screw (which regulates depth of bit) is made of a soft alloy of metal. The screw has quickly failed. I had to cut a six-sided screw under a screw-driver somehow to use this router in my work.
3. Now I am compelled to search for stronger screw for replacement of an old screw.
4. I consider that the tool demands completion.
5. I put two stars only because by means of a router I could make something in my project.
It is better to get expensive, but the qualitative professional router.

I bought this tool to rout an archtop for binding. Be forewarned - this tool will do the job but you must be VERY CAREFUL. Go very slowly and monitor the guide bearing continuously. It must be absolutely parellel to the side of the guitar or you will have a rout of varying depth and width. Even then, some variation will occur, but it is manageable.

My experience: for archtop guitars the TrueChannel binding jig would probably be much better. This Binding Router Guide works best on flat top guitars.

Well, as other rewiewer said, this tool isn't the best tool for professional binding work. The tool alone makes very uneven surface, maybe you should take 2-3 passes for the recommended binding depth. The result is so-so.

I got the idea to fix the problem with a dremel stand. I bought it very cheap at the local toolshop for about 30 bucks. It holds the dremel very good, it will not move during work sideways. I take out the spring of the drill stand, so the dremel will move permanently down, followin the surface because of his weight. With this idea i got a very even and professional result. The channel is percectly straight and the surface is even. Only 3 stars, because the tool alone doesn't work for me.

The small contact patch of this jig is the whole point of having it in the first place. It allows you to get into tight spaces. I like the tool but it always slips my height adjustment for some reason the depth of cut gets greater as I cut. You have to take very very small cuts as you approach your final depth.

I'm not a luthier, just a guy that likes making instruments. This made binding for my Balalaika project easy. That's saying something because it's loaded with every angle imaginable and I have never installed binding before. It's not finished yet but you may get the idea

Useful but tricky. The tool's footprint is too small and is unstable in use. Height adjustment is fickle but once sorted this can be a useful item in the workshop.

As promised, an update...

With the custom base plate, I got brave enough to tackle the first cut of the routing on the top and back. The plate gave enough stability that I was able to successfully get the first cuts done and am setting up to do the second cut for the inner binding.

Having a baseplate for this tool is CRUCIAL as attempting to do this without would have been fraught with peril.

As noted by me and others, the tool itself is simply NOT stable enough to be used by a noob without wrecking the wood. The problem is that the contact patch of the tool is so small that it appears virtually impossible to use it without "rocking" and once you rock it, the cut goes deep.

More to follow.

An excellent well made tool. It does a very nice job, as long as you use it carefully. Just two suggestions, #1 the center hole needs to be larger, so it will work on all Dremel corded tools. #2 the roller screw needs to be locktited so it won't vibrate out.

The concept is good and with the custom baseplate I had made up I have high hopes for this tool.

First, let's be honest. perhaps if I had 20 years of guitar-building experience I could use this tool the way it comes. The reality is that I simply cannot.

As noted by other buyers, this little thing has such a small contact patch that it rocks like crazy and when it rocks, in ANY direction, the cut is uneven.

Thanks to the other buyers, I tried it out on some sample stock first and quickly learned that I did not have enough hand-eye coordination to even THINK about using it on the Martin 000 kit I'm building.

Lucky for me the head machinist here is a guitar nut and heard I was building the Martin. I showed him this tool and explained the problem. He suggested a lexan base with set screws to hold the tool in place (just like a router base). He even had the crew make one up.

The photo shows the Stewmac tool mounted in the lexan base. The machinists cut three flats on the tool to provide a stable base for the set screws and I'm going to give it a try this evening on some scrap stock.

I'll post results if you can stand it.

Haven't used it to set a binding yet but did have to use it to remove a back. It worked good even though the back was ruined, it still saved me many hours of removing with a razor saw.