KMG binding routing system improvement?

[Dave Bagwill]

Cool beans!

[peter havriluk]

At least it seems to be an improvement....I had a problem routing the binding channel on the back of my current project, I couldn't get the body sides parallel to the router bit, the body was too thick to allow it. So, maybe adding a quarter inch to the bottom of the router fixture, where the fixture meets the channel Ken routed into the tabletop, would help? Sure did! And routing the channel on the soundboard side worked out nicely, too. I didn't hardly have to compress the rotating base much at all. Top binding got right easy after raising the fixture a quarter-inch.

Too bad I can't tell Ken about it...

[Hans Mattes]

I've been using a reconstruction of Ken's binding routing system, as I shared in a post on Oct. 7, 2018. Initially it worked just fine, but, over time, I've migrated my guitar construction in two ways that challenge the system, and I'm hoping someone can suggest some improvements/adjustments that could alleviate the problem.

My changes in guitar construction include greater doming of the back (usually with a 12' radius dome, occasionally with even more dome) and utilizing a "Manzer wedge" which results in the rim on the bass side being anywhere from 1" to 2" less wide (deep?) than the rim on the treble side (this preserves body volume while making the instrument easier to play). The downside of these changes (especially the wedge shape) is a more challenging build -- especially in the issues of edge binding. One of those issues is that Ken's system isn't happy when the side is not perpendicular to the top or bottom -- and the combination of greater doming on the back, along with the wedge shape, makes the issue real. (It's worst on the bass side of the back, but is real over much of the guitar's periphery.)

So, to pose the question -- has anyone had issues with Ken's system when the sides weren't perpendicular to the top or back, and, if so, do you have any suggestions? Thanks.

[peter havriluk]

I understand. I cut the binding channels on my current project two weeks ago. The body four inches thick at the bottom of the lower bout was a serious PITA to cut binding channels on the lower (back) side. Wound up discarding Ken's sled and even then it was a best-guess proposition. There's just no way for me to hold the body square to the router bit when the rim wants to be below the table surface when I'm cutting channels at the lower front bout. The happy noises I posted above were all generated on thinner guitars.