Cheapskate router setup for nice wood bindings

I'm making two guitars, not starting a new career. And, let's face it, I'm pretty cheap when it comes to buying one-trick tools. But I want things to be, well, just so. So when I booked up on cutting the channels for the bindings, I was a little dismayed to find this router bit set and this router cradle as the "best" way to cut perfect channels for the wood bindings I wanted. Buy them together for $278 plus shipping.

I've been cobbling together router setups for 35 years, and I can't for the life of me understand why you would want to jack up the guitar in the air and then hang the router even higher in the air on top of that.

Here's what I did instead, with some scraps of poplar and a mix-and match of router bits and bearings on hand

Basically, I used my router table with a scrap of 13/16 poplar surrounding the bit, then taped same-thickness scraps of poplar to one side of the face I was cutting. The way, both sides would always be the same height off the router table, which means the same depth of cut.  Then, when one side was cut, I swapped the taped-on scraps to the other side and finished up. 

Ready to start the first cut. I'll admit I was nervous. I sharpened the router bit with a tiny diamond file. But I couldn't see what damage I could do, except for tearout, which I addressed by going really, really slowly around.

Closeup of the first setup.

After the first channels were cut on the tops, where there is a 2-part binding, I went around tops and backs for a second channel for the outer curly maple binding to cover the end grain of the tops and backs. Same idea, different router bit.

I was really happy with the result: clean, no-cost binding channels. Take that, Stewmac!

I found a nice 4' chunk of curly maple at woodcraft for $3, because it had a huge hole in the middle of the board. Fine with me - I just cut strips about 3/32" x about 7/16" on the tablesaw, and scraped them flat. I had to buy a new blade for the saw, though - even my mildly used 40-tooth blade caused blowouts in the grain. A new 60 tooth blade did fine, then I scraped and sanded the strips.

70 degrees out! I was able to work at my outdoor workbench for bending the bindings. What a difference bending the maple vs. bending the mahogany; curly maple falls apart if it's wet, and the mahogany doesn't bend if it's dry! In the photo, the first maple strip has been bent, and is immediately ready for installation.

Bending the second curve on a cutaway-side maple strip. The best technique proved to be slooowwwly pushing  the maple around the hot iron, dry. I used the smaller-diameter "upper level" pipe (see prior photo) for the first tight cutaway curve, then the lower-level larger pipe for everything else. No springback on this stuff at all. The little mahogany strips bent more easily, with just a little spray spritz of water which made steam.

Superglue! I went about an inch at a time, pushing the bindings in, seeping a little glue in, spraying accelerator. Took about 10 minutes a side. Tape wouldn't have drawn it in tight enough, and there was no way to clamp. The guitar bodies looked dishearteningly ugly at this point.

For the bottom joint, I overlapped set the first strip in a hair long, overlapped the second, and used a sharp 1/2" chisel to put them together. Worked well.

Thank you, Miles! A friend left his Fein Multitool here several years ago, and hasn't bothered to pick it up. This is the only time I've used it, I swear. Had to buy a new velcro pad and some Schliefblatter for it, though. Working outdoors again - less mess in the shop. I was really happy to see that superglue disappear. Next step, not shown here (my wife needed the camera at work) was two days' work scraping and sanding the sides flush again. Thorny work on the inside curves.

Bindings in place, rough sanded. Next little step, inserting the bone piece at the base of the tops where that tailpiece adjusters go, then scraping the recurve on tops and backs, which should be interesting.