Binding Router Guide

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.

The binding router guide and bit made the job of binding a Les Paul style body very easy. Slow and easy, a little at a time, and the edges were clean. After a few practice pieces you get the feel. Highly recommended.

Difficult and not convenient adjustment,
but final result is not bad. I would improve this tool a little.

I read the previous review but couldn't believe that the tool was useless. The other reviewer was right about the fact that it constantly rocks in every direction. But that is just because of the suggested router bit. If you are using a dremel attached to the routing tool I suggest using one of Stew-mac's downdrill bits (the ones also used for routing your soundhole rosettes). I tried it and it worked great. Just don't rush the whole operation and you will be fine. In fact, I think, this is the cheapest solution out there that will get the job done. Many thanks!

This tool does what it claims to do in theory only. It constantly rocks in every direction, no matter what attempt is made to stabilize it. Once it rocks either forwards or backwards, this causes the depth of the channel to change. The idea was a good one, but the design does not allow for it to work effectively