I haven’t been in the shop in a while. The end of the semester is always busy with projects, papers and presentations. I also ran into a roadblock when it came to the binding on this guitar.
For the previous guitars I used a Dremel tool with a small fixture to cut the channels for the binding on the body. It has been the hardest part to do well, and the fixture was a big part of the problem. A couple of weeks ago, I talked myself into buying a better tool for the job. 
I got it from the Luthier Tool Company. It attaches to my Bosch laminate trimmer. Very nicely made – it looks like it will last a lifetime.
I made a simple jig out of a piece of 1/2 inch MDF to hold the body while I cut the channel. The tool registers to the sides of the body, so the jig doesn’t need to be made to keep the sides perpendicular to the bench top like some other binding jigs I considered.
The tool manufacturer recommends a 1/4 inch downcut spiral bit, but I used a straight bit and it worked really well. Other people have written that the tool takes some time to get use to, but I got perfect results on the first try.
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