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I have the kit of parts for a handheld binding cutter that I bought from Ken Cierpolowski before he left us, and it does me no good sitting in a drawer. I'd love to put it into service, if for no other reason than seeing if I have any use for it.

So how much of a trim router do I need? I use a HF cheapie for my edge trimmer, and I get away with that, but can I use one of those in a binding cutter? I think I'm asking for opinions on a lowest-common-denominator router that will not ruin my project.

Thanks!

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Peter Havriluk

I like the Ridgid ones from HD…

Among the several routers I use the Grizzly (https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzl ... ase/t27139) has the most accessories for the price and has been adaptable to the jigs I used the cheap HF one on. I got it on sale a while back. The one I use most though is a 20v Dewalt, not the cheapest though. Ridgid is a good choice too, and is set up in the router table.

Why not try it on scrap wood with the router you’ve got? You could work up from there. My favorite router for hand guided binding ledge routing is the smaller Ridgid cordless. The absence of the cord makes it much easier to handle.

Many years ago, I had one of the HF cheap laminate trimmers. The runout on the shaft made it unusable. But, it was cheap.

I like the Ridgid trim routers best, they just fit the hand well, good variable speed, and most important for binding is accurate fine depth adjustment. Funny I have 3 of the Ridgid trim routers but the one I bought first was a Bosch and I set up my binding system for that router but the depth adj really really sucks. Some day soon I'll revamp my articulating arm for the Ridgid.

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Brian R, Wood Mechanic
N8ZED

I can be a bit slow to respond. Please desscribe 'unusable'. The HF trim router I have also shows runout but it's usable for edge trimming, and that's a close cousin of binding channels. Agreed that it''s not much use for anything else, but it takes 1/4" bits and it's cheap.

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Peter Havriluk

We measured runout on all available major name brand laminate trimmers and the Bosch Colt which was measured by buying three of them was the worst one with runout measured in the 0.005" range.

The best one was the DeWalt and we also discovered and then told the forum about Precise Bits who, don't quote me it's been a while like 10 years but I think that Precise Bits had an aftermarket collet for the Dewalt that dialed in the runout even further.

Now high precision certainly is desirable for a saddle slotting mill which is why we measured them all. Is high precision necessary for a binding cutter and the answer is in my view not to the same degree. If you build so that the bindings will be proud of the channels and scraped down 0.005" of slop may not be noticeable or something that any one would care about.

We've now used the Dewalt for 10 years and it's been flawless. The three Colts were returned to the store.

PS: We stashed away a couple PC310s the best one we ever used of all the laminate trimmers. Affectionately known as R2D2.

I find the ridgid is perfect for binding not a big fan of the hand helds as they tilt and just be sure to watch for that.

agree runout is a pain but you are not going to find hi precision on most of the big box tools. But in the end they are good enough for most binding jobs. My best advice on binding is to make your set up so you will sand the side to the binding not scrape the binding to the sides.
This is where tape can be your friend. you can use tape as a shim. I like to be just a few thou in so as the glue takes its place you will be flush. also watch that you don't roll the edge as you sand.

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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

I agree that the HF trimmer was okay for trimming an edge with a bearing bit, but for cutting a dimensioned slot, it was useless. In those days, I used one router for everything. It couldn’t be the HF. The runout on it was amazing.

I've been using a Bosch Colt router mounted on a tower for about twelve years to cut binding and purfling channels and it works great. No issues with the fit of bindings or purflings. I have a Precise Bits collet on it. Maybe that helps.

I'm in the camp of installing the binding just slightly proud of the sides, as in a few thousandths. I level sand the sides dead flat before installing the binding, so I don't want to have to go back and do even more sanding of the sides when they are already done. I think some people worry that scraping/sanding the binding down to the sides will result in uneven binding thickness. I've not had that happen at all. I'm sure that's because the binding/purfling channel depths are right on the mark which also shows that the Colt is up to the task. As are many other routers.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

I'm using the Bosch Colt for cutting binding / purfling channels.
Lots of internet discussions about poor runout on the Colt.
I had runout but a good cleaning of the collet and the collet shaft brought runout down so low I could not measure it. I bought a precision collet (one of the manufacturers stop selling them for Bosch Colt because of the inherent runout of the shaft) but ended up not needing it.

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

I still have three functional PC 310’s. I hope they outlive me. Parts are still available.

PC seems to discontinue their best stuff including the SpeedBloc 1/4 sheet sander.

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It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Same. Mine is over 15 years old though so QC may have changed.

First tool I bought for guitarmaking was my PC310.

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Peter Havriluk

I recently bought a Bosch Colt to mount in my binding cutter jig and used to cut the binding channels on my ES-335 style build. No visible runout (not that I attempted to measure). I like the easy router bit change and the variable speed features. I was not aware of the Precise Bits collets for the Bosch Colt -- gonna check that out thank you.

I have a PC310, great little workhorse, but they are notorious for the annoying sticky collets. Parts are definitely hard to come by now, many are discontinued.

Agree on the sticky collets. When I bought mine, there was lots of chatter online about these, and collets that didn't want to give up their bits was a large amount of the conversations.

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Peter Havriluk