3 Way Binding

Machine Prototype

As you can see in the photos of my electric guitars, they have a sculpted and carved top. How to cut a binding rabbit on an uneven surface? I used to cut them by hand and it was a lot of work. I’ve used various ways but wasn’t satisfied. After several prototypes and lots of revisions I’ve come up with what I think might be the answer. The bearing surface which rides on the rim of the guitar is about 3/32 wide and 5/8 inches tall and is beveled slightly toward the guitar and the curvature is the same as the side bearing surface. So you have a top bearing surface and a guitar side bearing surface. Between those parameters is the end mill which is 1/4 inch up cut endmill and will allow you to cut in a foreword direction without tearing the grain during the cut. The top of the system rides on a ball bearing slider which allows the user to bring the endmill to the workpiece and lock in the depth of cut. The height of cut is by raising or lowering the router. The router can be any trim router you’d like so long as the cutter is just kissing the inside of the upper rim bearing when it is fitted. Check out the video which shows the basics of how the cutter works and you can see the bearing surfaces working together. There is a locking mechanism for the top slider along with spring to allow the top to balance and slide up and down on two chrome rods and two linear ball bearings. So you now have three directions, up and down, foreword and back, and side to side. If you would like one made for you contact me on my website.

Watch it work