# Binding trimmer jig



## MartinTaylor (Sep 26, 2013)

I know this has probably been done by others but I thought I'd have a go at making a Binding Trimmer jig. 

This jig is used to keep my laminate trimmer upright while trimming binding channels on my acoustic guitars. The challenge is that the back of a guitar is curved and so you need a jig that will keep the trimmer perpendicular to the sides. There are several commercial jigs out there but they are expensive and I am a cheap skate.

After much searching online and knowing my limited skills I came up with this one. In conjunction with a cradle to hold the guitar body










This is a replacement base for the Laminate trimmer. It allows the clearance needed. It's made from a Jarrah base and a Merbau 'ring' that I made on a drill press of all things.










This is the replacement base on the trimmer. The StewMac router bit fits in nicely.










And this is the trimmer attached to the jig.










This is the cradle for the guitar body. It is adjustable to allow for a range of guitar sizes and shapes.











A friendly guitar repairer kindly donated a junker that he had received from a local high school. I think they were just wanting someone else to throw it out. Anyway, I actually had to re-glue the back and top to the sides just so I could do my testing. 

I did say it was a junker! 









The cradle works like a charm.









The results. Yes, the binding routing works exactly as hoped for.


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## bzguy (Jul 11, 2011)

A+ for jig making, class act.
More time and dedication in the jig than the guitar!


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