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The easy way to make custom bindings: use a Dremel tool upside down!

If you’re bending a bunch of bindings, here’s a way to do the job fast: Instead of heating and bending individual strips of binding, it’s much easier to bend one wide board then cut that board into thin strips.

So far so good, but how are you going to slice up that board? It would be crazy to try cutting a guitar-shaped board into 1/4" strips on a bandsaw! The answer is this trick I cooked up with our Precision Router Base:
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Don MacRostie, November 9, 2006
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Mount our Precision Router Base upside down
to make a micro-tablesaw to cut custom bindings

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Mount a Dremel tool in our Precision Router Base, which is screwed to a board, bottom-side-up. This is held firmly in a vise, and two spring clamps hold a simple wooden fence on it. I used a little Dremel rotary saw blade to do the cutting.
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Strip cutter Dan Erlewine brought me this maple board that he'd bent to match a “Flying-V” guitar shape (that was in a previous Trade Secret). The curved edges of these bent maple pieces are feeding neatly into the saw, producing a perfect cut around all the bends.
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Uniform strips of binding, all bent to the same shape
I easily got 4 pieces from this one board, and they’re all bent to exactly the same curve!
If you’ve never used a bending iron, stay tuned! We’ll cover bending in an upcoming issue of Trade Secrets.
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Problem-solving products mentioned above:
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Precision Router Base
Designed especially for stringed instrument work.
• Compact, sturdy
• Excellent control
• Easy installation
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Bending Iron
Controlled heat bending form for guitar, mandolin, violin and dulcimer sides. |
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