Gil,
True, routing a binding channel can be tricky especially when you have a carved top. But I think that routing the bindingchannel before you cut the body shape won't work. Mainly because the bodyshape should be cut/routed/sanded very very accurate in order to get a consistant whith of your binding. There is always a spot that you should sand just a little bit more in order to get is smooth, at that spot your bindingcahnnel won't be wide enough.
If you want, you can add stabillity by using a routing table, you can make this yourself, just by mounting your router underneath a board with a hole in it.
If you have a carved top however, this will still be an unstable constructing, so with a carved top you route the binding channel before you carve the top, it's a lot easier. Nick form nmguitars routes two channels in the top before carving. The first is the bindingchannel, routed with a special binding routingbit from stew mac. Then he routes a second `dummy´ channel above the binding channel. This ledge indicates to which point you must carve the top (simple but brilliant).
When routing a bindingchannel always use multiple passes in order to reduce the risk of tear-out....
Grz Arjan
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