Official Luthiers Forum!

Just a quick cautionary tale I have from today...
I was routing the binding channels on my current guitar. I use a router table with a homemade binding jig mounted to it and hold/move the guitar rather than vice versa. So it was all going fine, then in a moment of unthinkingness I started a cut going in the opposite direction (going with the blades rotation) and BAM the guitar was out of my hands and halfway across the room! Thankfully it landed on a pile of shavings (See, a messy shop can be a good thing ) and was amazingly undamaged, but had my fingers been in the wrong place I would now have a lot of trouble playing the guitar aside from other things...
Of course it could have been prevented by having a new sharp router bit and concentrating more, but who can say they always do that?

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"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

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Glad your accident didn't cause any damage to you or your guitar Peter. Gives you a bit of the shakes though, doesn't it!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Wakes one up and gets the blood pumping....!!!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Speaking of binding jigs....!
Minimalist version...! I use this held in one hand with the other hand holding the body on a router mat. Another way to keep the heart rate up.

Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Wouldn't keep doing it like that myself Tom, always go for the two handed approach with any power tool. Better to lose an instrument across the room than a digit or two.

Steve

Yep, my routers scare me the most of all my power tools.
I'm doing more stuff by hand.
Takes longer, but less likely to blow out chunks of wood and fingers.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Yikes! I'll stick with my gramil and chisel.

I really don't mean to be rude, but..
I's so simple and quick to make up a secure holder for a body that I find that hard to believe.
That is just an accident waiting to happen.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

I think I used every binding jig out there. When it comes down to the time investment , you need to consider the safest and most repeatable method you can afford. Be thankful your project or you were not harmed. Lesson learned.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Routers can scare the hell out of and cause some serious damage to your fingers. When using any power tool put on your safety glasses and concentrate on what your doing.... take it slow and easy. I've had my buffer fling a guitar down to the ground, Wasn't so lucky. Had to replace the top.

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This is worth repeating. Most folks rout binding backwards, and it's worth taking the time to build or buy a holding jig or sled. Two handing the box is almost a requirement if you are moving the box into the router. Overarm routing is probably the best way to go and the sled will provide resistive friction as you also push it onto the bench surface. If you are holding a "hand held" tool, the holding jig is almost mandatory as you should be two handing the router. One handing a router is only good for trimming laminate, as it's pretty hard to fling a counter top across the room.
Buffing is another story. Care and attention is of utmost importance. It's one of those middle of the day jobs when you are wide awake and not too tired to be inattentive.

Steve: Thanks for the concern but I think this operation with the router is relatively safe for me, much less so for the guitar if I let my guard down. The bit is not very exposed and quite sheltered. Been doing it this way since the 70's but as my wife says "Just because you have always been doing something a certain way for a long time doesn't mean it's right."...................My wife is MUCH smarter then me...!!!
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Bob: Table saws scare the brown stuff out of me...!! Over the years I have been bitten a couple of times by a power tool.........both were by my favorite and most used power tool............. a table saw. Thankfully I still have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs.
Don't use routers very much but I certainly understand your feeling for anyone using one on a regular basis.
Tom

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A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

I very much agree with Bentrup. The set up I use took me very little time and it seems to be fool proof. I made this stuff over 20 years ago and it will easily outlive me.

When I buff, I wear palm coated Atlas type gloves. They are nice and grippy! Much harder to have the guitar ripped from your hands if you loose focus.

Michael, just buffed out one other day, and wearing similar coated gloves saved me a wrecked box when I caught a top edge and it wanted to go walkabout at a very brisk pace.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Michael:
My setup is much like yours. I use wooden drawer slides for vertical guides but now I added a counter-weight and the guides seem a tad sticky. What do you use.

Bob